A wire myograph is a type of laboratory apparatus that can measure the
contractility of luminal tissue segments smaller than 2 mm in diameter. It is used by
pharmacologists to measure the effect of
test articles on
blood pressure or on airway contractility.
History of the wire myograph Diagrams of the first ever wire myograph were revealed by Mulvany and Halpern in their 1976 paper "Contractile properties of small arterial resistance vessels in [...] rats". The group based the design of this apparatus on a technique developed by Bevan and Osher to measure arterial contractility
ex vivo. Development of the wire myograph was significant because it allowed researchers to estimate the effect of novel drugs on blood pressure for the first time.
Structure of the wire myograph The structure of the wire myograph has not changed much since its invention in 1977. Tissues are mounted in the myograph bath via two wires threaded through their
lumen. These wires are attached to two opposing stainless steel jaws which secure tissue in place throughout the culture period. Multi-myograph units can contain up to four separate tissue baths, allowing four different tissue segments to be cultured simultaneously. ==References==