Perspectives for microelectrode arrays for biosensing and membrane electroporation

Electrochemical microelectrode devices are among the great challenges for bioelectrochemistry, cell biology and recently also for biomedical research and new clinical electrotherapies. Two representative cases in cell biology and medical research for new trends in the technical devices are selected, heading at new diagnostic and therapeutic clinical applications. One example is from the field of biosensing cholinergic neurotransmitter substances by the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AcChoR) in solid-supported lipid bilayer membrane and the other one refers to new developments of electrode systems for the electrochemical delivery of drugs and genes to biological cell aggregates and tissue by the powerful method of membrane electroporation. In both cases addressed to, the new developments include the use of electrical feedback control of electrode arrays for biosensing processes as well as for the extent and duration of tissue electroporation. In line with the impressive advances in medical microsurgery, where increasingly smaller organ targets become accessible, microelectrode systems have become a continuous technical challenge for bioanalytical purposes and, as discussed here in some detail, for the new field of the electroporative delivery of effector substances like drugs and genes, using miniaturized electrochemical electrode arrays. (C)2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.