Cardiovascular diseases are complex pathologies that include alterations of various cell
functions at the levels of intact tissue, single cells and subcellular signalling compartments.
Conventional techniques to study these processes are extremely divergent and rely on a
combination of individual methods, which usually provide spatially and temporally limited
information on single parameters of interest. This review describes scanning ion
conductance microscopy (SICM) as a novel versatile technique capable of simultaneously …

Accepted 18 January 2011 1 This journal is q 2011 The Royal Society on September 29,
2011 rsif. royalsocietypublishing. org Downloaded from receptors coupled to cyclic
adenosine monophosphate production. The SICM pipette can be used for patch-clamp
recordings of membrane potential and single channel currents. In conclusion, SICM
provides a highly informative multimodal imaging platform for functional analysis of the
mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases, which should facilitate identification of novel …