Interfacing neurons through the patch membrane pierced with single-walled carbon nanotubes

The usability of single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as electrically conductive channels across the cell membrane was examined at the submicroscopic level. By using the patch-clamp technique, we found the surface-modified single-walled CNTs dispersed in the micropipette solution can provide an electrical access to the intracellular space across the patch of cell membrane in dissociated mammalian neurons, thereby enabling us to measure the membrane excitabilities in the `pierced-patch´ whole-cell mode.