First-of-its-kind application for simultaneous measurement of neural structure and activity at scale in 96- and 384-well plates enables discovery of more efficacious medicines for neurodegenerative disease.
CytoTronics, Inc., a pioneer of semiconductor-based platforms for discovery in cell biology, launched its Neural application for Pixel systems today. A pioneering innovation for neurodegenerative disease and neurotoxicity research, the application enables high-throughput screening for drug discovery at unprecedented scale.
Current techniques for neuron characterization are low throughput, only allowing a few cells or wells to be screened at a time. This restricts the ability to screen neurons during drug discovery, hindering progress in identifying the most effective medicines to treat neurological diseases. Two or more assays are necessary to capture neural structure, cell health and electrical activity, each requiring a separate set of cells. So, to obtain a full understanding, scientists need more cells—which extends discovery timelines and ups costs as neurons are often in short supply and difficult to grow.
With the Neural application on Pixel, electrical imaging and electrophysiological data are captured on the same cells at the same time in a single, multiplexed assay—presenting a complete picture of cell health, structure, and electrical activity. Scientists can measure specific responses to stimulation and spontaneous electrical activity for neural in vitro models in 2D and 3D cultures, monocultures, and co-cultures. Small, low-throughput screens can be scaled to one 96- or 384-well Pixel plate on Pixel Primo, or up to eight plates on Pixel Octo. Integrating standard robotic and liquid handling platforms with multiple Pixel Octo systems in parallel unleashes the capability for high-throughput screening on tens of thousands of wells simultaneously.
Microchips located at the base of each well in a Pixel plate contain small electrodes that provide a flexible spatial resolution from 12.5 µm to 400 µm and high signal to noise, making it possible to detect electrical spikes from single neurons with up to 144 recording channels. Assays can be monitored non-invasively for months at a time to detect network formation and neuron activity. 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.
“Biopharma is making the shift towards more sophisticated cell models, and scientists engaged in drug discovery for neurological disease are looking for solutions that include the disease model plus characterization,” said Jeffrey Abbott, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO of CytoTronics. “Cell providers deliver the disease model, and Pixel enables cell characterization at scale with insights at unparalleled breadth and depth. The Neural application is the first of many we’re adding to Pixel’s roster this year to expand accessibility and market reach.”
CytoTronics has active collaborations with key cell, organoid, and spheroid providers requiring the sophisticated cell characterization that Pixel enables. Anatomic, Axol Bioscience, BrainXell, Trailhead Biosystems and others are putting the system to use for applications in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, blood-brain barrier/CNS function, and pain research. The company has over 40 Pixel collaborator sites across seven countries in both industry and academia.
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 Stanford Drug Discovery Symposium April 28-29 in Palo Alto, CA and the Society for Neuroscience 2025 meeting in San Diego this November.
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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"The Neural application is the first of many we’re adding to Pixel’s roster this year to expand accessibility and market reach."
Contacts
For media inquiries or partnership opportunities, please contact:
Alyssa Ludvino
Director of Marketing & Communications
aludvino@cytotronics.com
