A fast, direct electrical assay drastically reduces screening cost and time. One example is the pharmacological safety test on cardiac ion channels that are prone to cause arrhythmia.

Currently, these tests are done with ex vivo preparations taken from animal hearts. These painstaking tests can not be performed early in the screening process because they are slow and expensive.

However, to avoid over investment in potentially toxic compounds it is important to have data of this kind as early as possible in the assessment of a compound. Leaving such tests until later in the cascade can cause costly
project failures.