New application consolidates multiple assays into one multiplexed assay that measures cardiomyocyte electrical activity, contractility and cell morphology simultaneously, giving researchers immediate insight on how signals propagate across heart tissue.
CytoTronics, Inc., a pioneer of semiconductor-based platforms for discovery in cell biology, launched their novel Cardiac application today—the next key offering in its Pixel application portfolio. The first-of-its-kind, multi-modal application lets drug discovery scientists focused on cardiovascular disease and cardiotoxicology measure the electrical activity, contractility and structure of cardiomyocytes in a single assay at scale in 96-and 384-well plates.
Cardiovascular research typically requires the use of multiple devices to assess contractility (mechanical beating), electrical activity, cell morphology and viability. Needing multiple assays to generate separate sets of data makes findings difficult to correlate and reproduce. Because Pixel measures these simultaneously, pairing cardiac measurements with electrical imaging to capture changes in cell health and morphology, researchers can clearly correlate all the data in real time to determine how changes in heart tissue affect how a heart beats.
With the FDA announcing plans to phase out animal testing requirements for drug development, Pixel’s Cardiac application offers a timely and powerful alternative. For investigators in cardiotoxicology, Pixel enables real-time monitoring of both acute and chronic responses to compounds—using the same human cardiomyocytes across multiple days or weeks. This in vitro approach allows scientists to detect cardiotoxicity earlier in the discovery process, reduce dependence on costly animal studies and advance safer drug candidates with greater confidence. Pixel also streamlines workflows by consolidating multiple cardiotoxicity assays into a single, multiplexed experiment, providing richer insights and minimizing variability—all from the same plate of cells.
Using Pixel, spontaneous cardiomyocyte electrical activity, specific responses to stimulation, contractility and structural changes can be measured in 2D and 3D monocultures and co-cultures. Microchips located at the base of each well in a Pixel plate contain thousands of small electrodes, providing a flexible spatial resolution of 12.5–400 µm and 50+ values for each small section of tissue in every well—compared to other methods that only deliver one value per well. Data-rich measurements can be taken over 48–72 hours, a few weeks or months at a time, enabling researchers to track maturity of complex cardiac disease models for screening applications.
Pixel’s ability to measure cardiac activity and cell morphology also enables high-throughput screening of cardiomyocytes. Scientists can start small using one 96- or 384-well Pixel plate on Pixel Primo or up to eight plates on Pixel Octo, then ramp up to high-throughput via integration of standard robotic and liquid handling platforms with multiple Pixel Octo systems in parallel to simultaneously screen tens of thousands of wells. Cloud-based Pixel software lets scientists view and access data in real time from anywhere as the experiment is running, and a suite of sophisticated data analysis tools makes it easy to analyze the data.
“Cardiovascular disease researchers face multiple efficiency and data quality challenges that slow progress on getting life-saving treatments to market,” noted Shalaka Chitale, Ph.D., Head of Biology and Data Science at CytoTronics. “Pixel simplifies and streamlines their processes, enhances quality of results and accelerates the timeline to actionable insights. Through our early collaborations, we’re only just discovering the positive impact Pixel may have on drug discovery pipelines with its capability for in vitro cardiotoxicity testing in earlier phases of development.”
Pixel is utilized for applications in cardiovascular disease and cardiotoxicology research at multiple CytoTronics collaboration sites including ACROBiosystems, Axol Bioscience, FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics, InSphero, Ncardia and Stanford University.
“Our research is focused on defining distinct cardiac disease phenotypes and understanding how genetic mutations drive the progression of cardiomyopathies,” said Dr. Ioannis Karakikes of Stanford University, a member of the international PRIORITY consortium. “Accurately correlating electrical activity with contractile function is critical to advancing targeted therapies. Consistency, reproducibility and high-resolution insights are essential, and innovative approaches that integrate electrical imaging with functional assessments are crucial for moving the field forward.”
To learn more about Pixel or our Try Before You Buy program, visit cytotronics.com or follow us on LinkedIn. You can also talk to our team at the American Heart Association Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Meeting, July 23–26 in Baltimore, MD.
About Pixel
CytoTronics’ breakthrough semiconductor-to-live-cell interface enables thousands of multi-modal readouts on any cell type or organoid system. Pixel dramatically accelerates the scale at which cell biology applications can be executed, and the breadth and depth of live-cell insights obtained. Live cell function is monitored on a Pixel plate, a proprietary 96- or 384-well microplate embedded with microchips at the base of each well. Cells grow in culture media on top of a microarray containing over 100,000 nanoscale electrode-based sensors, allowing thousands of measurements to be taken per well. This first-of-its-kind system lets scientists simultaneously monitor cell viability, morphology, electrophysiology, metabolism, and more while generating non-invasive electrical images with single-cell spatial resolution.
About CytoTronics
At CytoTronics, we are transforming cell biology discovery with our high-throughput, semiconductor-based platforms. Our Pixel systems provide live cell insights with single-cell resolution across all cell types. By seamlessly integrating semiconductors with conventional microplates, Pixel unlocks multi-modal electrical, electrochemical, and electrophysiological capabilities, delivering an unprecedented scope of data collection and scale-up for cell biology research, drug development, and pharmaceutical manufacturing applications. Established as a spin-off from Harvard University in 2021, we are headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Learn more at www.cytotronics.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
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Pixel simplifies and streamlines their processes, enhances quality of results and accelerates the timeline to actionable insights. Through our early collaborations, we’re only just discovering the positive impact Pixel may have on drug discovery pipelines
Contacts
For media inquiries or partnership opportunities, please contact:
Alyssa Ludvino
Director of Marketing & Communications
aludvino@cytotronics.com
