QPatch Compact - A planar patch clamp alternative - Sophion

QPatch Compact – A planar patch clamp alternative

Are you already used to planar patch-clamp but not happy with the use of seal enhancers? QPatch Compact delivers 1 to 8 channel throughput in physiological solutions.

Planar patch clamp without seal enhancer or fluoride?

The QPlate® is unique with the microflow based design and silicon-coated lining that ensures efficient compound exchange and gigaohm seals without using seal enhancers.

QPlate 8 & 8XSeal enhancers are generally unwanted since they do not simulate physiological conditions and can create artefacts (Lei et al., 2021).

Some APC manufacturers rely on seal enhancers to achieve consistent gigaohm seal formation. We don’t. Silicon surfaces in the QPlate promote both high sealing and a low propensity to stick to compounds.

  • Giga-Ω seals in physiological solutions
  • Microfluidic channels for precise liquid handling
  • Minute compound quantities required
  • Ready-to-use, individual, built-in electrode pairs

Eight simultaneous experiments and automated analysis

The QPlate is unique with the microflow-based design and silicon-coated lining that assure efficient compound exchange and gigaohm seals without using seal enhancers.

Eight simultaneous experiments generate sufficient data to fuel even your most demanding chemist with data. The software helps you set up and analyze experiments. All you have to do is prepare the cells and handle the pipetting of solutions guided by the instrument.

  • Sufficient data, highly reproducible
  • Automated analysis
  • Objective replication

Entry model for automated patch clamp

Did you always dream of the QPatch system but could not justify the investment? QPatch Compact is an affordable alternative to a higher throughput APC system with a price similar to a manual patch-clamp rig.

  • Automated whole cells, giga-seals on demand
  • Manual pipetting
  • Automated analysis

Precise concentration at the cell

There is only 2 µL of liquid surrounding the cell patched in a QPlate 8 recording plate. When the next liquid is introduced, the exchange happens quickly and completely to ensure precise control over the cell’s micro-environment. That is important for studying both the ion channel’s kinetics and preventing desensitization due to over-exposure to higher-than-wanted concentrations. The latter will happen in an open-well architecture where you rely on an in-well dilution to occur in an uncontrolled manner.

  • “Concentration-clamp” due to microfluidic channels
  • No overshoot of concentration
  • More control, less desensitization
  • Fast exchange of liquid