Scientists, doctors, researchers and experts from different fields are forming their own teams for a common goal. That is, to come up with a drug that can cure a particular impairment in one’s body. In fact, to come up with a medicinal drug that can help in improving a patient’s condition, is not always successful. That’s why, they have conducted researches and tests with the purpose of using the most advanced technologies. Anyway, this is possible because these people are capable of operating hi-tech facilities. They have everything in their laboratories, so all they need, is to work on their concept.

Actually, one of the considered roots of an individual’s disease and poor health condition is the ion channels. That’s why, the experts are teaming-up in determining therapeutic drugs to keep a cell’s membrane function well. Here, they have to conduct an Ion Channel Research, which is quite complicated. That’s because doing this process includes biological science as well as electrophysiology and innovative technology. Again, with the discovery of a particular medicine, you will have to undergo a lot of screenings and assessments. You should be able to use the right approach and be confident with the methods used.

To be a patient with problems on the nervous and cardiovascular is not easy. It may impair your capability in different aspects and may greatly affect your lifestyle. Because of these, I can say that, it is just right for the medical experts to work on drugs, which will specifically target the ion channels. By the way, you do not need to be a medical specialist or a student, if you want to read something that concerns your health. I guess, you will have to learn more about this because it is an important part of a human’s cell membrane.

What are Ion Channels?

You should know that ion channels are actually proteins that are in the membrane of the cell. It could be charged as negative or positive atoms. These create small openings or gates for specific molecules to pass on. With a single atom, the electric current can be measured by sensors. Go to https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/ion-channel-14047658/ for further reading.

This plays a vital role in a human body, especially in the processes like signal transmission, which are related to the nervous system. It is also helps in ensuring the proper beat of the heart. For these reasons, researchers are determined to discover new and better drugs that can maintain the function of the ion channels. With the use of the latest and most advanced technologies today, finding the right medicines could be faster.

Studying this not only involves pharmacology, biophysics and electrophysiology. The use of various techniques and methods are also needed. We have voltage and patch clamp, X-ray crystallography, RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and fluoroscopy, to name a few.

Automated Platforms

A decade ago, it was impossible to use automated systems in the process of capturing cells. But with today’s technology, the use of Artificial Intelligence has been already common among researchers. They used a parallel patch clamping system, where chips are used to suction the cell. Through this application, automatic recording of data will be made. Here, the system will be able to access the cellular membrane.

This approach is not only done automatically, but in parallel process as well. They can use an array of chips, which means that they can also record multiple data. This is done and measured directly. With this, it only shows that the researchers were able to overcome the conventional way of studying these molecules. I supposed, this is due to the fact that the quality of data collected is high. Indeed, the use of this system gradually increased, especially when it comes to the discovery of drugs – this website will tell you more. While other organizations or companies had been using it for academic as well as industrial purposes.

By the way, another platform used here is the giga-seal recording. Here, the interaction between the substrates and the cell membrane is highly resistant. Some examples of the platforms used are the QPatch, Patchliner, FlyScreen, Port-a-Patch, PatchXpress and SyncroPatch 96 to name a few. There are also low quality platforms used like IonWorks Quattro, IonFlux and the DynaFlow HT.