• Accepted Paper

Microscopy of bioelectric potentials using electrochromism

Burhan Ahmed, Erica Liu, Lothar Maisenbacher, Pengwei Sun, Dana Griffith, Kenneth Nakasone, Ashwin Singh, Yuecheng Zhou, Bianxiao Cui, and Holger Müller

Phys. Rev. Applied - Accepted 1 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/p947-mlyb

Abstract

Studying the electrical signals generated by living cells is key to understanding numerous biological phenomena. Electrochromic optical recording (ECORE) uses the electrochromism exhibited by certain materials to noninvasively measure these signals in real time. In this work, we report on the development of ECORE based on a high-NA microscope objective. We demonstrate the recording of extracellular action potentials from cardiomyocytes with single-cell resolution and a high sensitivity of 6.3 microvolt. Combining ECORE with microscopy simplifies the optical setup, allows for the simultaneous imaging of specimens, and makes ECORE accessible to a broader community of researchers, allowing for a better understanding of the biological processes that are integral to life.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation

If the author has provided any supplemental materials with this article they will be available upon publication of the version of record.

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation