Sample positioning and analysis system

Abstract

Systems for positioning and/or analyzing samples such as cells, vesicles, cellular organelles, and fragments, derivatives, and mixtures thereof, for electrical and/or optical analysis, especially relating to the presence and/or activity of ion channels.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A system for positioning and/or analyzing samples such as cells, vesicles, and cellular organelles, and fragments, derivatives, and mixtures thereof, comprising: 
 a substrate having a plurality of apertures;    at least one recording fluid compartment and at least one reference fluid compartment, arranged on opposites side of the substrate, and in contact via the apertures; and    at least one recording electrode and at least one reference electrode, each in contact with at least one of the fluid compartments, and adapted to apply and/or measure an electrical potential across the apertures.    
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a support element for independently supporting the substrate and associated system components.  
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , where the support element includes a carrier plate and at least one spacer sandwiched between the substrate and the carrier plate.  
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , where the space defined between the substrate and the carrier plate includes at least one of the compartments.  
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3 , where the carrier plate is made of a transparent material, such as glass, and includes a plurality of microlenses arranged in such a way that they allow the parallel optical observation of the samples that are positioned near the apertures.  
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 2 , where each recording electrode contacts the substrate or the support element at least substantially at its border.  
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , where at least two fluid compartments are arranged on one side of the substrate, each of those compartments being in contact, via the apertures, with a single fluid compartment arranged on the other side of the substrate.  
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , where at least one electrode is arranged adjacent the substrate.  
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , where the recording fluid compartment is arranged above or below the substrate.  
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , where the substrate includes at least one material selected from the group consisting of silicon, silicon derivatives, glass, and plastic.  
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , where the diameter of the aperture is less than about 15 nm.  
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , where the diameter of the aperture is between about 0.3 μm and about 7 μm.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , where the number of recording fluid compartments is selected from the group consisting of 96, 384, 1536, and 9600.