Scalable micro-cavity bilayer lipid membrane arrays for parallel ion channel recording

A compact, scalable and high-throughput bilayer ion channel recording platform capable of simultaneous data acquisition from multiple bilayers is presented. Microfluidic chips house micro-cavities over which bilayers are made; each connected to a custom-made compact electronic readout circuit based on ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits). The micro-cavities are fabricated using a simple dry-film resist process on a glass wafer. Single 15 mm × 15 mm glass chips contain four separately addressable bilayers, each with integrated Ag/AgCl electrodes. The number of bilayers is scaled by increasing the number of ASICs and four-cavity chips. Each chip can be cleaned and re-used many times and the cavity-suspended lipid bilayers are stable for up to 10 days. System performance is demonstrated with simultaneous electrical recordings of the ion channels gramicidin A and α-hemolysin in multiple bilayers.