Active Shielding of Glass Capillaries for the Compensation of Parasitic Effects in Transepithelial Electrical Resistance Measurements of Organoids

Abstract

Capillary-based TEER measurements are affected by parasitic capacitances that distort the impedance spectrum and compromise reliable determination of barrier resistance of 3D cell structures, e.g. organoids. In this study, an actively shielded glass capillary concept is introduced to suppress parasitic coupling effects in four-electrode impedance measurements. Circuit simulations and experimental pre-tests demonstrate that capacitive artifacts significantly influence unshielded configurations, whereas active shielding stabilizes the impedance response within the frequency range relevant for TEER analysis.