= Gigaohm seal
{title2=$R_{\mathrm{seal}}\gtrsim10^9\,\Omega$}
= Gigaseal
{synonym}
A <gigaohm seal> is the high <electrical resistance> contact between the glass rim and <cell membrane>, also called a <gigaseal>. It suppresses a bypass route around the membrane patch; it does not make the membrane patch itself impermeable. The 1981 methods used pulled, coated and heat-polished pipettes, a chlorided silver <electrode> and a pressure connection. Clean glass and suction supported tight seals; coating reduced pipette-to-bath <capacitance> and recording <noise>, rather than being required for sealing.<Improved patch-clamp techniques for high-resolution current recording from cells and cell-free membrane patches by O. P. Hamill and others>[pp. 85–86, Part I.1 and Figure 1]{ref}
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