Record viability and activity in an MEA plate

Guess what happened to your neurons. You don't know until you use the new MEA viability module

 

Know what happened to your neurons

By measuring neural activity alone, you can't tell whether the drug killed the neurons or blocked an ion channel. With the new MEA Viability Module you can stop guessing. Measure both viability and activity in one assay.

In this example, when the drug was added, neural activity was silenced but the neurons are still alive.

How do we know?

With the new MEA Viability Module you can measure both viability and activity in one assay. Get more information from every plate, whether you're modeling development, disease progression, or screening new treatments.

 

Distinguish functional neurotoxins from cytotoxins in one assay

Functional neurotoxins impact neural activity; cytotoxins impact cell health; both can stop neural activity. With the MEA Viability module, you can distinguish between functional neurotoxins and cytotoxins by measuring both neural network activity and viability in one simple assay in your MEA plate.

 

Drug dosing can impact activity and viability

Neural cell coverage and functional activity of hiPSC-derived neurons were tracked using the Maestro Pro multiwell MEA system.

At the start of the assay, both wells showed robust neural activity, network bursting, and cell viability.

Well A was dosed with a functional neurotoxin that silenced neural activity, but did not impact cell viability. Well B was dosed with a cytotoxin which killed them.

Dosing neurons with neurotoxin - loss of activity but cells are still alive

 

Dosing neurons with cytotoxin - activity silenced and cells have died

 

Without measures of cell viability, it is difficult to distinguish cytotoxic effects from functional effects.  With the new MEA Viability software module, you can see the whole picture, tracking cell viability with Axion's advanced impedance-based technology.

 

Discover the new MEA Viability Software Module

 

Confirm cell coverage in your MEA experiment

Put away your microscope.

Where are my cells? How’s my cell coverage? How does the structure of culture relate to its functional activity? The MEA Viability Module uses impedance-based technology to quantify viable cell coverage. Coverage in each well is visualized in the Viability Map, with yellow representing denser coverage and blue lower coverage.

Measure neuronal activity and coverage in the same MEA well

Now you can measure cell coverage and activity in the same assay.

 

Frequently asked questions about measuring cell viability

 

Can I record both cell viability and electrical network activity from the same well?

Yes. With the push of a button, you can quantify both structural and functional integrity of your electroactive cells. Cell viability can be measured by the same microelectrodes used to record activity in your multiwell microelectrode array (MEA) plates. 

 

Can cellular viability be measured in high throughput?

Yes. Viability can be measured from any CytoView MEA plate, from 6 wells up to 96.

 

Is MEA Viability an endpoint assay?

No. MEA Viability uses impedance-based technology. Impedance is non-invasive, non-destructive, and label-free, so the biology is never disturbed. Collect as many timepoints as you need and see your results evolve over time.

 

How does MEA Viability compare to other techniques?

MEA Viability is the only viability assay that uses microelectrode arrays to measure cell viability in addition to electrical activity.

MEA Viability is a non-destructive, dynamic assay. So, there is no need to guess which timepoints to measure, take samples from each well, or transfer the cells to a different system.