At the microscale, patch-clamp can be used to measure currents of single ion channels. The function of single neurons is often explored by direct measurements of the intracellular voltage, using patch-clamp or a sharp microelectrode. It is a powerful but tedious method and often its use is limited to a few neurons per experiment (Wood et al., 2004). Planar patch-clamp systems allow rapid in vitro patch-clamping, mostly used for high-throughput ion channel screening of dissociated cells (Dunlop et al., 2008). Automated patch-clamp allows for fast in vivo intracellular recording and it is feasible to extend the method to measure several neurons simultaneously (Kodandaramaiah et al., 2012). The bulkiness of current micromanipulators and patch-clamp systems together with the necessity for accurate and precise control have limited simultaneous patch-clamp recordings to a few—maximum of four and twelve for in vivo (Kodandaramaiah et al., 2014) and in vitro (Perin et al., 2011), respectively.
