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Results for “Microelectrodes”

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At least 361 records · Page 20Linked to original sources

PubMed2005

Microbenthic chamber with microelectrode for in-situ determination of fluxes of dissolved S(-II), I-, O2, Mn, and Fe.

A 2-mL microbenthic chamber was fitted with a microelectrode for the in-situ determination of benthic fluxes of S(-II), I-, O2, Mn(II), and Fe(I). Detection was by voltammetry using a battery operated potentiostat and a gold microelectrode. The chamber was fitted on a Perspex plate to be placed on sediments. Because of the small chamber volume, benthic fluxes could be determined in a few hours rather than days, without the need for sample extraction. Tests on homogenized sediments in the laboratory showed fluxes of 17.1+/-1.8 nmoles cm(-2) min(-1) S(-II) and 1.3+/-0.2 nmoles cm(-2) min(-1) Mn. Benthic fluxes of oxygen and iodide were determined in situ in the field. The oxygen flux was negative (consumption) at a rate of -4.9+/-0.5 nmoles cm(-2) min(-1) O2. The I- flux was initially negative in oxygenated waters at a rate of -30+/-3 pmoles cm(-2) min(-1) and subsequently turned positive to a rate of 12+/-1 pmoles cm(-2) min(-1) when the oxygen concentration dropped. The rate of change in the microbenthic chamber was sufficiently quick to complete a flux measurement within minutes.

Environmental Monitoring↗

PubMed2006

Carbon-fiber microelectrodes modified with 4-sulfobenzene have increased sensitivity and selectivity for catecholamines.

Elliptical and cylindrical geometries of carbon-fiber microelectrodes were modified by covalent attachment of 4-sulfobenzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate following its electroreduction. Elliptical electrodes fabricated from Thornel P-55 carbon fibers show the highest amount of 4-sulfobenzene attached to the electrode. Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry was used to compare the response to dopamine and other neurochemicals at these modified carbon-fiber microelectrodes. The grafted layer causes an increased sensitivity to dopamine and other positively charged analytes that is due to increased adsorption of analyte in the grafted layer. However, this layer remains permeable to negatively charged compounds. Modified electrodes retain the increased sensitivity for dopamine during measurements in mouse brain tissue.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2006

Neural stimulation with a carbon nanotube microelectrode array.

We present a novel prototype neural interface using vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotube (CNT) pillars as microelectrodes. Functionalized hydrophilic CNT microelectrodes offer a high charge injection limit (1-1.6 mC/cm2) without faradic reactions. The first repeated in vitro stimulation of hippocampal neurons with CNT electrodes is demonstrated. These results suggest that CNTs are capable of providing far safer and more efficacious solutions for neural prostheses than previous metal electrode approaches.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2001

Determination of sulfur dioxide in vitriol plant wastewater by using a polyNiMe4TAA electrochemically modified Pt microelectrode.

A Pt microelectrode modified with nickel(II) polytetramethyldibenzo[b,i]tetraaza[14]annulene was prepared by electropolymerization of nickel(II) tetramethyldibenzo[b,i]tetraaza[14]annulene monomers and applied to determine sulfur dioxide in vitriol plant wastewater. For determination of SO2 with this electrochemically modified Pt microelectrode, the linear range was from 9.6 x 10(-6) to 2.4 x 10(-4) mol L-1, the sensitivity was 1.8 x 10(-4) A L mol-1, the detection limit was calculated to be 4.8 x 10(-6) mol L-1 (S/N = 3), the response time was less than 20 s and the relative standard deviation was found to be 2.1% on analyzing 4.8 x 10(-5) mol L-1 SO2 solution repeatedly (n = 7). These results demonstrated good accuracy compared with those obtained by the conventional iodimetric method.

Chemical Industry↗

PubMed2001

Multimembrane carbon fiber microelectrodes for amperometric determination of serotonin in human urine.

An electrochemical sensor for the determination of serotonin in urine was prepared using Ni(II)-phthalocyanine and Nafion to modify the surface of a 4 mm length carbon fiber microelectrode. The resultant sensor was found to improve the response towards this neuronal amine versus the microelectrode without the polymer films. Different polymerization conditions, as well as different conditioning solutions and buffer systems, were investigated in order to optimize the response of the electrodes. Square wave voltammetry (SWV) is proposed as a direct method for determination of serotonin in human urine, after a solid-liquid extraction process. The proposed method enables a detection limit for serotonin of 0.80 +/- 0.04 microgram L-1 to be achieved at a reduction potential of 0.35 V, with an overall prediction error of 2.2% and recoveries of 93%.

Carbon↗

PubMed2004

Design and simulation of sample pinching utilizing microelectrodes in capillary electrophoresis microchips.

The paper proposed novel designs to pinch the transverse diffusion of the sample in the injection mode using microelectrodes to generate the potential difference at the channel intersection in the capillary electrophoresis (CE) microchip. A pair of microelectrodes was used to conduct the injection channel and the separation channel, which directly provided the potential to pinch the sample without using a power supply. These new designs of the CE microchip simplify the electric circuitry and improve performance. Simulations were performed using the CFD-ACE[trade mark sign] software. The mechanisms of diffusion and electrophoresis were employed in the numerical simulation. The injection and separation processes of the sample were simulated and the parameters of the present design were investigated numerically.

Computer Simulation↗

PubMed2004

A new dynamic electrochemical transduction mechanism for interdigitated array microelectrodes.

A dynamic electrochemical transduction mechanism for interdigitated array microelectrodes using an electrical charge pumping method is presented in this paper. In this dynamic transduction mechanism, a charged external capacitor is used as the charge supplier for the electrochemical reaction of the reversible redox species at the interdigitated array electrodes. The charges stored in the capacitor are consumed as the electrochemical reaction current, which causes the capacitor potential decay. The theoretical analysis has shown that the species concentration has a decisive effect on the capacitor potential decay, and therefore the characteristics of the capacitor potential decay are recorded and analyzed to evaluate the concentration of redox species. The new transduction mechanism has the advantages of achieving high sensitivity with small sensor area and simplifying the measurement instrumentation. As a demonstration device, interdigitated array microelectrodes (approximately 0.2 mm(2) electrode surface area) have been fabricated and successfully characterized using p-aminophenol as the redox species under this dynamic mechanism. The detection limit of p-aminophenol was calculated to be approximately 4 x 10(-7) M for the sensor with the new dynamic transduction mechanism.

Aminophenols↗

PubMed2005

Boron-doped diamond microdisc arrays: electrochemical characterisation and their use as a substrate for the production of microelectrode arrays of diverse metals (Ag, Au, Cu)via electrodeposition.

A novel boron-doped diamond (BDD) microelectrode array is characterised with electrochemical and atomic force microscopic techniques. The array consists of 40 micron-diameter sized BDD discs which are separated by 250 microns from their nearest neighbour in a hexagonal arrangement. The conducting discs can be electroplated to produce arrays of copper, silver or gold for analytical purposes in addition to operating as an array of BDD-microelectrodes. Proof-of-concept is shown for four separate examples; a gold plated array for arsenic detection, a copper plated array for nitrate analysis, a silver plated array for hydrogen peroxide monitoring and last, cathodic stripping voltammetry for lead at the bare BDD-array.

Arsenic↗

PubMed1970

Chloride and potassium activities in luminal fluid of turtle thyroid follicles as determined by selective ion-exchanger microelectrodes.

Cl(-) and K(+) activities in the follicular lumen and the intraluminal potential of the same lumen were measured simultaneously with specific liquid ion-exchanger and 3 M KCl microelectrodes, respectively, in turtle thyroid glands. The Cl(-) equilibrium potential between the thyroid interstitium and the lumen calculated from the measured Cl(-) activities was higher than the directly measured intraluminal potential. These data indicate that Cl(-) is actively transported out of the follicular lumen in turtle thyroid gland. On the other hand, the calculated K(+) equilibrium potential was not different from the directly measured potential, which indicates that K(+) is probably distributed passively according to the electrochemical gradients between the interstitial and the luminal compartments in turtle thyroid gland. Results obtained from the specific liquid ion-exchanger microelectrode studies correlate well with those obtained from previous radioautographic observations and chemical determinations.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Microelectrode techniques in localization of stereotactic targets.

Although physiological corroboration of the target is essential in functional stereotactic surgery, the collected data can also be used for the offline study of normal and abnormal brain function. Such studies have the advantage of being made in actual clinical states with the unique opportunity of communicating with the patient. Correlations were made between microelectrode recordings and microstimulation at the same thalamic site with the same microelectrode in 'normal' patients, in those with tremor and in those with central and deafferentation pain. Human somatosensory organization is similar to that of subhuman primates. Five types of tremor cells have been identified-unresponsive nonsynchronous, unresponsive synchronous, kinaesthetic, voluntary, and voluntary with receptive field. While the last two qualify in latency and connectivity as tremor pacemakers, system analysis suggests an important element of long loop feedback as well. In the pain patients, five features were identified-somatotopic reorganization, altered firing in reorganized cells, bursting cells induction of burning widespread in thalamus and reproduction of the patient's pain by microstimulation-possibly a 'central allodynia' found in deafferented somatosensory thalamus particularly in patients with allodynia or hyperpathia. All but the latter effects may be merely the consequence of deafferentation and were seen in a 'control' stroke patient with dystonia, sensory loss but no pain.

Brain Mapping↗

PubMed2002

Instrumentation to evaluate neural signal recording properties of micromachined microelectrodes inserted in invertebrate nerve.

The design and characterization of instrumentation for application in evaluating the neural signal recording properties of probe-type microelectrodes, micromachined from silicon, are reported. Key aspects include the close matching of gain and frequency response between channels (better than 1%), flexibility in signal conditioning options, the ability to operate with a wide range of (microelectrode) recording site dimensions (4 microm x 4 micrm to 50 microm x 50 microm), and hence impedances, and the facility to monitor and store instrumentation settings on computer along with the recorded signals. Noise levels ranged from 3.7 microV rms for a 50 microm site, to 11.7 microV rms for a microm site, measured in saline. Close matching between channels was required to enable comparisons between different sites and different probes to be made with confidence; however, the instrumentation could be readily applied to less demanding applications.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Estimation of neural energy in microelectrode signals.

We considered the problem of determining the neural contribution to the signal recorded by an intracortical electrode. We developed a linear least-squares approach to determine the energy fraction of a signal attributable to an arbitrary number of autocorrelation-defined signals buried in noise. Application of the method requires estimation of autocorrelation functions R(ap)(tau) characterizing the action potential (AP) waveforms and R(n)(tau) characterizing background noise. This method was applied to the analysis of chronically implanted microelectrode signals from motor cortex of rat. We found that neural (AP) energy consisted of a large-signal component which grows linearly with the number of threshold-detected neural events and a small-signal component unrelated to the count of threshold-detected AP signals. The addition of pseudorandom noise to electrode signals demonstrated the algorithm's effectiveness for a wide range of noise-to-signal energy ratios (0.08 to 39). We suggest, therefore, that the method could be of use in providing a measure of neural response in situations where clearly identified spike waveforms cannot be isolated, or in providing an additional 'background' measure of microelectrode neural activity to supplement the traditional AP spike count.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2005

Biomechanical analysis of silicon microelectrode-induced strain in the brain.

The ability to successfully interface the brain to external electrical systems is important both for fundamental understanding of our nervous system and for the development of neuroprosthetics. Silicon microelectrode arrays offer great promise in realizing this potential. However, when they are implanted into the brain, recording sensitivity is lost due to inflammation and astroglial scarring around the electrode. The inflammation and astroglial scar are thought to result from acute injury during electrode insertion as well as chronic injury caused by micromotion around the implanted electrode. To evaluate the validity of this assumption, the finite element method (FEM) was employed to analyze the strain fields around a single Michigan Si microelectrode due to simulated micromotion. Micromotion was mimicked by applying a force to the electrode, fixing the boundaries of the brain region and applying appropriate symmetry conditions to nodes lying on symmetry planes. Characteristics of the deformation fields around the electrode including maximum electrode displacement, strain fields and relative displacement between the electrode and the adjacent tissue were examined for varying degrees of physical coupling between the brain and the electrode. Our analysis demonstrates that when physical coupling between the electrode and the brain increases, the micromotion-induced strain of tissue around the electrode decreases as does the relative slip between the electrode and the brain. These results support the use of neuro-integrative coatings on electrode arrays as a means to reduce the micromotion-induced injury response.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗

PubMed2005

A finite-element model of the mechanical effects of implantable microelectrodes in the cerebral cortex.

The viability of chronic neural microelectrodes for electrophysiological recording and stimulation depends on several factors, including the encapsulation of the implant by a reactive tissue response. We postulate that mechanical strains induced around the implant site may be one of the leading factors responsible for the sustained tissue response in chronic implants. The objectives of this study were to develop a finite-element model of the probe-brain tissue interface and analyze the effects of tethering forces, probe-tissue adhesion and stiffness of the probe substrate on the interfacial strains induced around the implant site. A 3D finite-element model of the probe-brain tissue microenvironment was developed and used to simulate interfacial strains created by 'micromotion' of chronically implanted microelectrodes. Three candidate substrates were considered: (a) silicon, (b) polyimide and (c) a hypothetical 'soft' material. Simulated tethering forces resulted in elevated strains both at the tip and at the sharp edges of the probe track in the tissue. The strain fields induced by a simulated silicon probe were similar to those induced by a simulated polyimide probe, albeit at higher absolute values for radial tethering forces. Simulations of poor probe-tissue adhesion resulted in elevated strains at the tip and delamination of the tissue from the probe. A tangential tethering force results in 94% reduction in the strain value at the tip of the polyimide probe track in the tissue, whereas the simulated 'soft' probe induced two orders of magnitude smaller values of strain compared to a simulated silicon probe. The model results indicate that softer substrates reduce the strain at the probe-tissue interface and thus may also reduce tissue response in chronic implants.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Microelectrode and neuroimaging studies of central auditory function.

Imaging studies in humans are revealing parallels with the functional organisation of the auditory brain discovered in microelectrode studies in animals: the rate of amplitude modulation generating the strongest response declines systematically from the lower brain stem to the cortex; an increase in sound level induces a higher level and a greater extent of activity; spectra are represented tonotopically in multiple cortical areas. There are also differences: evidence of organisation reflecting the sound level of the stimulus is absent in animals, but has been found in humans. Additionally, imaging has revealed functional specialisations which have not (yet) been located in animals: areas that respond more strongly to sounds with stronger pitches and to sounds that move in space. Microelectrode studies suggest that vocalisations are represented by spatially distributed populations of neurones in secondary auditory areas. In humans, likewise, activation progressively more specific to speech is found as the search moves from primary to secondary to accessory areas.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Oxidative stress in cancer prone xeroderma pigmentosum fibroblasts. Real-time and single cell monitoring of superoxide and nitric oxide production with microelectrodes.

Sun exposure is clearly implicated in premature skin ageing and neoplastic development. These features are exacerbated in patients with Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), a hereditary disease associated at the cellular level with DNA repair defects and a low catalase activity. The implications of oxidative stress in the defects and cancer proneness of XP skin cells (keratinocytes, fibroblasts) are multiple and remain unclear. They were investigated here at the level of a single fibroblast by an electrochemical method based on microelectrodes we have developed previously. These microelectrodes permit a real-time quantification and identification of superoxide and nitric oxide derivatives (H2O2, ONOO-, NO*, NO2-) released by a living cell following its stimulation. Then, the oxidative bursts produced by fibroblasts from normal strains were compared with those of fibroblasts from several XP group A (XPA) and XP group D (XPD) strains. All XPA and XPD strains provided responses of higher amplitude and duration than controls. The XP specific oxidative response could not be correlated with DNA repair ability since the transduction of XPD strains with the wild-type XPD gene did not modify their production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. The nature of these species was investigated and revealed that cancer prone XPD fibroblasts produced higher amounts of O2*- and H2O2 and lower amounts of NO* and ONOO than normal fibroblasts.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Relation of monophasic action potential recorded with contact electrode to underlying transmembrane action potential properties in isolated cardiac tissues: a systematic microelectrode validation study.

Monophasic action potentials, recorded with contact non-suction electrodes, have been used both clinically and experimentally. However, to date no systematic microelectrode validation studies have been done to underlying myocardial cell populations from different myocardial regions with different transmembrane potential profiles. In the present study transmembrane action potential properties, recorded with standard microelectrodes, were compared with monophasic action potentials recorded with contact electrodes in three different (endocardium, epicardium, and free running Purkinje fibre) isolated canine preparations during pacing and during spontaneous automatic activity. The mean transmembrane durations at 50% and 90% repolarisations (APD50 and APD90) of 19-30 cells at a monophasic action potential recording site was not statistically significant from monophasic action potential duration in all three tissue preparations studied. However, in endocardial preparations, composed of superficial (1-2 cell layers) Purkinje fibres with deeper ventricular muscle cells, the APD50 (139(17) ms) and APD90 (181(26) ms) of monophasic action potentials more closely reflected (but not significantly different) the underlying deeper ventricular muscle cells (APD50 134(14) ms and APD90 167(15) ms) rather than the mean transmembrane action potential durations of the underlying most superficial Purkinje fibres (166(22) ms for APD50 and 210(30) ms for APD90) (p less than 0.025). Tetrodotoxin (TTX) at 1 x 10(-6) mol.litre-1 shortened Purkinje fibre action potential duration and slightly lengthened that of ventricular muscle. Simultaneously recorded monophasic action potential showed an intermediate change in action potential duration. Incremental pacing and applied single premature stimuli resulted in similar degrees of shortening of action potential duration for both monophasic action potential and transmembrane potential in all three preparations. In endocardial preparations, barium chloride (4 mmol.litre-1) superfusion induced early afterdepolarisations, and spontaneous phase 4 depolarisations (n = 6) in both Purkinje and ventricular muscle cells giving rise to spontaneous automatic activity. These abnormal automatic activities were accurately detected by simultaneous monophasic action potential recordings. Suppression of automaticity by verapamil (0.2-0.5 micrograms.ml-1) as confirmed by transmembrane action potential recordings were similarly detected by monophasic action potential recordings (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2000

Microelectrode studies of normal organization and plasticity of human somatosensory thalamus.

Microelectrode studies of single units in the human thalamus during stereotactic surgery offer a unique opportunity to study the organization and plasticity of the sensory thalamus. In this review the authors present results using single-unit microelectrode recording in the mapping of human sensory thalamus in a variety of patients. First they outline the overall organization of the human sensory thalamus, including both somatosensory and pain pathways. They also show that the sensory maps for receptive and projection fields can be altered during pathologic states such as amputation and spinal transection. Additionally, the sensory maps show plasticity during states with abnormal patterns of motor activity, like dystonia. Lastly, they discuss the processing of painful and emotionally laden sensory experiences through the thalamus. The physiologic results of thalamic pain processing are discussed in relation to the sensory-limbic model of pain. The studies reviewed demonstrate the spectrum of stimulus processing and plasticity of both painful and nonpainful signals by the human thalamus.

Brain Mapping↗