Micropipettes are a common laboratory instrument utilized in many fields ranging from cell manipulation to conductance microscopy and electrophysiology. Current optical micropipettes, including electrodes, are unable to simultaneously emit and collect light, which is needed in some in vivo procedures, particularly those requiring incremental steps of repeated measurements and movements to find a target cell. A guidance system for optical micropipette electrodes would help find target cells with greater success.
Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a novel system for automated micropipette electrode guidance. This system allows simultaneous emission and collection of light to locate target cells. With this design, the complete optical and electrophysiology components are combined in such a way as to enable two-way optical detection from the micropipette electrode.
Because this device enables both emission and collection of light, it is easier to translate this to electrophysiology and neurophysiology labs for research applications.
Potential Applications
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Guiding micropipette electrodes
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Electrophysiology experiments
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Cellular manipulation experiments
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Neurophysiologic applications
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Benefits and Advantages
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Able to emit and collect light simultaneously
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Enables the location of target cells
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The parameters of heat, temperature, pull velocity and length of heating time are optimized to produce micropipettes with the ideal taper and aperture size
For more information about the inventor(s) and their research, please see