Extracellular electrical activity recording of pancreatic islet

Insulin release is well-known to be correlated with bursting of islets of Langerhans. Spikes generated during these burstings have also been found to have a linear relationship with glucose concentration. This linear relationship could allow one to make a sensitive, continuous "living" glucometer by recording extracellular electrical activity of islet of Langerhans. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of processing a three dimensional biocompatible microelectrode which could support pancreatic islets and record their extracellular activity. We also used mathematical modelling in order to assess the influence of the microelectrode on the membrane potential of the islet. A three-dimensional polyimide-based microelectrode has been designed. First results of numerical simulations show the effect of the probe on the bursting activity of the islets.