Cell-attached recording

In cell-attached recording, the membrane under the patch pipette remains intact and the cytosol is retained. If bath voltage is zero, cell-interior voltage is $V_{\mathrm{cell}}$ and pipette voltage is $V_p$, the patch's inside-minus-outside membrane potential is $V_{\mathrm{cell}}-V_p$. Commanding $V_p$ alone does not determine that difference when $V_{\mathrm{cell}}$ is unknown or changing. This is especially relevant to single-channel current-voltage relations.