SBIR/STTR Research Award
THE PATCH CLAMP MEASURES CURRENT FLOW THROUGH IONIC CHANNELSIN NATURAL MEMBRANES; THESE PROTEINS CONTROL MEMBRANE FUNCTION IN CARDIAC MUSCLE.
Award amount
$50,000Program and phase
SBIR · Phase IAward year
1986Award details
- Awarding agency
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Branch
- Not reported
- Recipient company
- Axon Instruments Inc
- Proposal award date
- Not reported
- Contract end date
- Not reported
- UEI
- Not reported
- Solicitation number
- Not reported
- Topic code
- Not reported
Research abstract
THE PATCH CLAMP MEASURES CURRENT FLOW THROUGH IONIC CHANNELSIN NATURAL MEMBRANES; THESE PROTEINS CONTROL MEMBRANE FUNCTION IN CARDIAC MUSCLE. MEASUREMENTS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY LIMITED BY THE AVAILABLE ELECTRONICS. THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE IN THE CASE OF THE RESISTOR (=5X10 10 OHM) NEEDED TO MEASURE THE CURRENT OF =10 -12 A FLOWING THROUGH JUST ONE CHANNEL MOLECULE. THE NEW PATCH CLAMP CIRCUIT WILL USE A SMALL CAPACITOR INSTEAD OF THE RESISTOR. PROTOTYPES SHOW FEASIBILITY AND MUCH IMPROVED PROPERTIES IN ALL SPECIFI- CATIONS TESTED SO FAR. IN PHASE I, A COMPLETE INSTRUMENT WILL BE BUILT AND BIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS WILL BE TAKEN FROMA VARIETY OF MUSCLE PREPARATIONS IN ALL CONFIGURATIONS OF THE PATCH CLAMP. IN PHASE II, THE PATCH CLAMP AMPLIFIER WILL BE TURNED INTO A PRACTICAL AND COMMERCIAL PRODUCT AND APROTOTYPE OF A SIMILAR INSTRUMENT-OPTIMIZED FOR PHYSICAL SCIENTISTS-WILL BE BUILT AND MARKETED.
Technology keywords
Not reported