ePatch

The new tiny amplifier designed for high quality patch clamp recordings in both voltage clamp and current clamp modes

The low-noise amplifier, the pulse generator and the digitizer are included within the small headstage (only 42 x 18 x 78 mm) that can be directly installed to the micromanipulator mounting plate and powered by the USB port of a laptop without the need of any external bulky digitizer and control unit.

Applications

A single channel recording showing the Kcv potassium channel activity in a cell-attached patch of HEK cell membrane transiently expressing the channel. The closed and opened levels are indicated by a dotted line preceded by C or O, respectively. The pipette holding potential is indicated at the right end of the trace. K+ concentration inside the pipette was 130 mM; K+ in bath solution was 100 mM.
Measuring the reversal potential of HCN2 channel. HCN2 channel currents activated by hyperpolarizing prepulse to −120 mV, followed by a test pulse to potentials between −110 and −60 mV (top panel). Data were saved in .dat format and analyzed off-line using Mathlab software (The MathWorks, USA). Plotting the current at the beginning of the test pulse against the test pulse potential provides the instantaneous current–voltage relation. Fitting data with a linear regression yields the reversal potential of -21,88 mV (bottom panel), in agreement with the the experimental conditions (25 C°; [K+]in 130mM; [K+]out 30mM; [Na+]in 10mM; [Na+]out 110mM) and the published PNa/PK (Biel et al. 2009). Biel, Martin, Christian Wahl-Schott, Stylianos Michalakis, and Xiangang Zong. 2009. “Hyperpolarization-Activated Cation Channels: From Genes to Function.” Physiological Reviews 89(3): 847–85.
Voltage dependence of activation of hERG channel. Outward K+ current elicited by hERG channel transiently expressed in mammalian HEK293T cells (top panel). Cells were held at -80 mV and depolarized to voltages between -60 and +40 mV for 4 s, and then clamped to –50 mV for 6 s (centre panel). Data were saved in .abf format (Axon binary format v2.0) and analyzed off-line. Voltage-dependence of activation was obtained from plots of tail currents against voltage; fitting to the data with Boltzmann equation provides the half activation potential of -16,2 mV (bottom panel) , in agreement with the value reported in Butler et al. 2018. Butler, Andrew et al. 2018. “Action Potential Clamp Characterization of the S631A HERG Mutation Associated with Short QT Syndrome.” Physiological reports 6(17): e13845–e13845.
ATP-evoked inward current of P2X2 receptor transiently expressed in mammalian HEK293T cells. The cell was held at -40mV under the whole-cell configuration. Scale bar 500 ms/1nA. ATP was delivered to the cell for ~ 1,5 s by means of an automated pinch valves prefusion system and then rapidly washed out (green and red bar respectively).The experiment was performed at RT; recording solutions were prepared as in Habermacher et al 2016 (eLife, 5:e11050).
Voltage-dependent activation of Nav1.5 sodium channel expressed in HEK293T cells. Representative whole-cell current traces recordedfrom a HEK-Nav1.5 cell,using the indicated pulse protocol. Data were recorded at 10KHz bandwidth (Sampling Rate: 80 KHz).Both pipette and membrane capacitance were compensated. Voltage errors were minimized using 80% series resistance compensation. Pipette was filled with a solution containing (in mM): 135 NaCl, 4 KCl, 1 CaCl2,2 MgCl2, 10 HEPES, 20 Glucose, PH 7.4. Bath solution contained (in mM): 5 NaCl, 140CsCl, 4 Mg-ATP, 2 MgCl2, 5 EGTA, 10 HEPES, PH 7.4.
Whole-cell current-clamp recordings of a cortical neuron isolated from neonatal rat brains. After achieving the whole-cell configuration in VC mode, the amplifier was switched to the “true zero current mode” to measure the resting potential value. Afterwards, both the pipette neutralization and the bridge balance compensation were applied. The action potentials were finally recorded by injecting a series of current steps for 1 s (here is shown the most representative one) from the same holding potential of -70 mV. Data were acquired at 10 kHz SR and saved in .abf format. Data courtesy of Dr. A. Binda and Prof. I. Rivolta, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.

EZ Patch - the new ePatch software interface

EZ Patch software is the new patch-clamp electrophysiology software developed and released by Elements for easy control of the ePatch amplifier. EZ Patch allows:

  • Customizable user-friendly Windows-format interface
  • Real-time display of voltage and current digitized data
  • Parametric voltage protocols editor
  • Automatic or manual control of compensation settings
  • Membrane parameters estimation to keep track of cell health
  • Real-time data analysis (C-fast – estimation, noise, I/V graph, current histogram, etc.)
  • Digital LabBook
  • Data output saving formats: .abf
  • Available for Windows and Mac OS

Discover how easy it is to use EZ Patch by watching the demo videos in the Videos section below.

How to connect ePatch in a typical patch-clamp setup

Features

Technical specifications Voltage Clamp

  • Open input (RMS) noise: 300 fA rms @ 625 Hz – 1.5 pA rms @ 10 kHz – 12 pA rms @ 100 kHz
  • Current ranges: ±200 pA (Gain 2.25 GΩ), ±2 nA (Gain 225 MΩ), ±20 nA (Gain 22.5 MΩ), ±200 nA (Gain 2.25 MΩ)
  • Parametric voltage protocols for pulse generator in the range of ±500 mV
  • C fast compensation range: 0-11 pF
  • C slow comepensation range: C in 0-250 pF – Tau in 0-2500 μs
  • R series compensation range: 0-25 MΩ
  • Auto electrodes voltage offset fine compensation
  • Zap pulse

Technical specifications Current Clamp

  • Input (RMS) noise: 11 μV rms @ 625 Hz – 22 μV rms @ 10 kHz – 350 μV rms @ 100 kHz
  • Parametric current protocols for pulse generator in the range of ±2.5 nA (res. 0.2 pA) and ±100 nA (res. 10 pA)
  • Voltage range: ±700 mV
  • Pipette neutralization range: 0-31 pF
  • Bridge Balance compensation range: 0-40 MΩ
  • True-zero current mode

Other technical specifications

  • Available bandwidth between 625 Hz to 100 kHz
  • Max sampling rate: 200 ksps
  • Data output format .abf
  • USB powered
  • Dovetail or rod bar mounting
  • Available 0-5V programmable digital output
  • Size & Weight: 42 x 18 x 78 mm, 200 g

Software

EZ Patch – Windows

ePatch amplifier Software GUI

(version 1.2.12)

EZ Patch – Mac

ePatch amplifier software GUI

(version 1.2.12)

NOTE: EDR Episodic is replaced by EZ Patch since 07-2019. If you bought your ePatch before this date contact info@elements-ic.com to get a firmware update.