ABSTRACT
Measuring the general electrical properties of myocardium in experimental animals and its changes under the influence of different compounds is an important step in novel drug development. Basic electrical parameters of the myocardium state that can be changed by pharmacological agents should be estimated at the different structural levels starting from the level of ion channels at preclinical stage and up to the level of whole organism in hospitals. Laboratories have many different techniques which allow predicting the negative effects of novel drugs on cardiovascular system. They vary in a wide range: computer simulations in silico, fluorescent assay of ion channel blockade, assessment of ion currents, action potential and field potential in vitro and measurements of electrocardiogram in vivo. We have presented the new technique for measuring of the most important myocardial parameters with a multichannel extracellular recording system in a small animal, which is high informative and can expand the advantage of multichannel electrophysiology in vitro to in vivo experiments allowing the monitoring of the living heart.
