# An in vitro electrophysiology system for high-throughput measurement of  cardiomyocyte action potential

> **NIH NIH R43** · CYION TECHNOLOGIES, LLC · 2023 · $343,203

## Abstract

Summary
Heart disease has been the #1 cause of fatality in the United States since 1950. Additionally, cardiovascular safety
liability especially pro-arrhythmic risk remains a leading cause for the high attrition rate in drug development. For
investigation of mechanisms and potential therapies for cardiac dysfunction, there has been strong demand from
industry and academic alike for high quality, high-throughput assay of cardiac action potential (AP), a powerful
biomarker for cardiac dysfunction. Unfortunately, existing techniques for measurement of AP, including electrical and
optical methods, all suffer from severe limitations and are technically challenging and/or costly to execute at scale.
These limitations are further compounded by the profound heterogeneity of human-derived cardiomyocytes.
This Phase I proposal aims to develop a novel in vitro electrophysiology system that supports high-throughput
measurement of intracellular AP (iAP) using human-derived cardiomyocytes. More specifically, we seek to
demonstrate the feasibility for researcher even with limited expertise in electrophysiology to perform high-throughput
iAP assay that includes data acquisition and analysis.
Central to this electrophysiology system is a 3D nanoelectrode array (NEA) developed at Stanford University, which
bridges the gap between intracellular and extracellular electrophysiology and enables high-quality and scalable
recordings of iAP from many individual cardiomyocytes. Based on this NEA technology, Cyion Technologies has
previously developed a first-generation electrophysiology system (Vincent) that records iAP signals from up to 60
discrete cardiomyocytes in a single-well NEA substrate. Built on this success, in this proposal we seek to develop an
additional “plate-reader” option that measures 672 individual cardiomyocytes using a 96-well NEA substrate. We will
also implement a software algorithm in user software for automated, batch analysis of iAP signals, which is necessary
for higher-throughput assay.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10759677
- **Project number:** 1R43HL170918-01
- **Recipient organization:** CYION TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** XIN JIANG
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $343,203
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10759677

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10759677, An in vitro electrophysiology system for high-throughput measurement of  cardiomyocyte action potential (1R43HL170918-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10759677. Licensed CC0.

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