美国Applied BioPhysics (ABP)www.biophysics.com
ECIS细胞动态分析仪
ECIS? (Electrical Cell-substrate Impedance Sensing)是一种生物物理学新技术，能够实时、定量、及非侵入性的研究生长细胞的形态、位置、数目，等变化。该技术由Dr. Ivar Giaevar和Dr. Charles R. Keese于80年代在美国通用公司（General Electric Corperate）电气实验室发明。由于该技术与生物医学基础研究相关，并非美国通用公司的主要利益所在，所以没有受到美国通用公司的重视。因此，当该技术逐渐显露出其在细胞分析领域的应用以后，在1991年，Dr. Ivar Giaevar和Dr. Charles R. Keese毅然决定创办Applied Biophysics公司，继续开发这一技术，并形成成熟的仪器以供广大科研工作者利用该技术进行细胞分析。
Applied Biophysics公司总裁，ECIS?技术发明者，Dr. Ivar Giaevar是著名的物理学家，因对电子隧道和超导理论的研究获得1973年诺贝尔物理学奖。其后Dr.Ivar Giaevar对生物物理现象进行了深入研究，特别是生物大分子和细胞在金属表面的行为和电学特性方面。80年代初期，为了其研究需要，Dr. Ivar Giaevar和其研究伙伴Dr. Charles R. Keese在美国通用公司电气实验室发明了ECIS?技术。
ECIS?技术所用的电极具有特殊的构造，解决了通常两个电极间阻隔了高电阻物体（如：细胞）时，电流会从高电阻物体四周流过，而难于准确反应高电阻物体本身的电阻变化的缺点。同时从理论上建立了新型的数学、物理模型来计算电阻改变和细胞变化之间的关系。
从1993年商业化成熟的ECIS仪器面世以后，ECIS技术迅速在多个细胞分析领域显示出其优越性。目前主要应用方向包括：细胞生长、细胞微动力、细胞损伤与修复、细胞与基质间作用、细胞间连接、细胞形态改变、细胞迁移、细胞侵润、药物对细胞作用的测试，等。仪器在美国、欧洲多家实验室安装超过数百台。用户中包括：NIH、美国CDC-NOISH、哈佛大学医学院、普林斯顿大学、纽约大学SUNY、加州大学洛山基分校（UCLA）、Johns Hopkins医学院、布朗大学、东京大学，等研究所，及Allergan、Genentech、Novo Nordisk，等著名生物公司。利用ECIS技术发表的文章近400篇，在Applied Physics公司网页中公开的文章就有100多篇，其中包括Nature等知名杂志。
Applied BioPhysics, Inc. is focused on applying the results of biophysical research to provide practical tools for cell research and drug discovery.
ECIS™ or Electric Cell-substrate Impedance Sensing is a novel electrical method to study, in real time, many of the activities of animal cells when grown in tissue culture. These include morphological changes, cell locomotion, and other behaviors directed by the cell's cytoskeleton. This technology was invented by Drs. Ivar Giaever and Charles R. Keese while working at General Electric Corporate Research and Development, but its commercial potential was not explored as it fell outside of GE's core interests. In 1991, as the potential applications of the ECIS technology became more apparent, Giaever and Keese formed Applied BioPhysics, Inc. as a private company to develop, commercialize and market this and other biophysical technologies. Applied BioPhysics is located next to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus, where several collaborative research projects are ongoing in the academic laboratories.
Since the formation of the company, the ECIS approach has been applied to numerous investigations including measurements of the invasive nature of cancer cells, the barrier function of endothelial cells, in vitro toxicity testing as an alternative to animal testing, and signal transduction involving GPCR's for modern drug discovery.
Instruments are now located throughout the United States as well as in Asia and Europe. Customers include Johns Hopkins University, The University of Tokyo, Vanderbilt University, Brown University, Genentech, and Allergan to mention a few. Drs. Giaever and Keese continue to develop new innovations to enhance the ECIS technology including most recently an automated wound healing assay and a device to study the behavior of cells under flow conditions ?both now commercially available.