scholarly journals Three-micrometer-diameter needle electrode with an amplifier for extracellular in vivo recordings

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (16) ◽  
pp. e2008233118
Author(s):  
Yuto Kita ◽  
Shuhei Tsuruhara ◽  
Hiroshi Kubo ◽  
Koji Yamashita ◽  
Yu Seikoba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Impedance ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Needle Electrode ◽  
Impedance Characteristics ◽  
Assembly Technique ◽  
Neuronal Signal ◽  
Minimize Tissue Damage ◽  
Growth Technology

Microscale needle-electrode devices offer neuronal signal recording capability in brain tissue; however, using needles of smaller geometry to minimize tissue damage causes degradation of electrical properties, including high electrical impedance and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) recording. We overcome these limitations using a device assembly technique that uses a single needle-topped amplifier package, called STACK, within a device of ∼1 × 1 mm2. Based on silicon (Si) growth technology, a <3-µm-tip-diameter, 400-µm-length needle electrode was fabricated on a Si block as the module. The high electrical impedance characteristics of the needle electrode were improved by stacking it on the other module of the amplifier. The STACK device exhibited a voltage gain of >0.98 (−0.175 dB), enabling recording of the local field potential and action potentials from the mouse brain in vivo with an improved SNR of 6.2. Additionally, the device allowed us to use a Bluetooth module to demonstrate wireless recording of these neuronal signals; the chronic experiment was also conducted using STACK-implanted mice.

scholarly journals Methods for Voltage-Sensitive Dye Imaging of Rat Cortical Activity With High Signal-to-Noise Ratio

2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 502-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T. Lippert ◽  
Kentaroh Takagaki ◽  
Weifeng Xu ◽  
Xiaoying Huang ◽  
Jian-Young Wu
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
High Dynamic Range ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Blue Dye ◽  
Voltage Sensitive Dye ◽  
Imaging Device

We describe methods to achieve high sensitivity in voltage-sensitive dye (VSD) imaging from rat barrel and visual cortices in vivo with the use of a blue dye RH1691 and a high dynamic range imaging device (photodiode array). With an improved staining protocol and an off-line procedure to remove pulsation artifact, the sensitivity of VSD recording is comparable with that of local field potential recording from the same location. With this sensitivity, one can record from ∼500 individual detectors, each covering an area of cortical tissue 160 μm in diameter (total imaging field ∼4 mm in diameter) and a temporal resolution of 1,600 frames/s, without multiple-trial averaging. We can record 80–100 trials of intermittent 10-s trials from each imaging field before the VSD signal reduces to one half of its initial amplitude because of bleaching and wash-out. Taken together, the methods described in this report provide a useful tool for visualizing evoked and spontaneous waves from rodent cortex.

scholarly journals Precision calcium imaging of dense neural populations via a cell body-targeted calcium indicator

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Or A. Shemesh ◽  
Changyang Linghu ◽  
Kiryl D. Piatkevich ◽  
Daniel Goodwin ◽  
Howard J. Gritton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Body ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Fluorescent Imaging ◽  
Calcium Dynamics ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Calcium Indicator ◽  
Calcium Indicators ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Neuronal Signal

AbstractMethods for one-photon fluorescent imaging of calcium dynamics in vivo are popular due to their ability to simultaneously capture the dynamics of hundreds of neurons across large fields of view, at a low equipment complexity and cost. In contrast to two-photon methods, however, one-photon methods suffer from higher levels of crosstalk between cell bodies and the surrounding neuropil, resulting in decreased signal-to-noise and artifactual correlations of neural activity. Here, we address this problem by engineering cell body-targeted variants of the fluorescent calcium indicator GCaMP6f. We screened fusions of GCaMP6f to both natural as well as engineered peptides, and identified fusions that localized GCaMP6f to within approximately 50 microns of the cell body of neurons in live mice and larval zebrafish. One-photon imaging of soma-targeted GCaMP6f in dense neural circuits reported fewer artifactual spikes from neuropil, increased signal-to-noise ratio, and decreased artifactual correlation across neurons. Thus, soma-targeting of fluorescent calcium indicators increases neuronal signal fidelity and may facilitate even greater usage of simple, powerful, one-photon methods of population imaging of neural calcium dynamics.

scholarly journals High-speed high-resolution laser diode-based photoacoustic microscopy for in vivo microvasculature imaging

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiufeng Li ◽  
Victor T C Tsang ◽  
Lei Kang ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Terence T W Wong
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
High Speed ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Continuous Wave ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Photoacoustic Microscopy ◽  
Mouse Ear

AbstractLaser diodes (LDs) have been considered as cost-effective and compact excitation sources to overcome the requirement of costly and bulky pulsed laser sources that are commonly used in photoacoustic microscopy (PAM). However, the spatial resolution and/or imaging speed of previously reported LD-based PAM systems have not been optimized simultaneously. In this paper, we developed a high-speed and high-resolution LD-based PAM system using a continuous wave LD, operating at a pulsed mode, with a repetition rate of 30 kHz, as an excitation source. A hybrid scanning mechanism that synchronizes a one-dimensional galvanometer mirror and a two-dimensional motorized stage is applied to achieve a fast imaging capability without signal averaging due to the high signal-to-noise ratio. By optimizing the optical system, a high lateral resolution of 4.8 μm has been achieved. In vivo microvasculature imaging of a mouse ear has been demonstrated to show the high performance of our LD-based PAM system.

The Clifford Paterson Lecture, 1993, Accurate measurement in in vivo magnetic Resonance: an engineering problem?

1994 ◽  
Vol 349 (1691) ◽  
pp. 357-388
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Engineering Problem ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Significant Extent ◽  
Performance System ◽  
Imaging And Spectroscopy ◽  
Intractable Problem ◽  
Conceptual Difficulties

Measurement in in vivo magnetic resonance — both in imaging and spectroscopy — has proved to be a much more intractable problem than extrapolation from conventional high resolution studies might have suggested. Although this paper concentrates mainly on some of the complications of magnetic resonance imaging, the same conceptual difficulties (compounded by much reduced signal levels) affect in vivo spectroscopy. Tissue is an extremely complex system and many of the difficulties studying it arise from the interactions that are unintentionally engendered when it is observed. Patient motion is a potent source of artifact to the technical challenge of making better measurements, and different forms of motion are likely to be the ultimate limitation on the sensitivity and discrimination of the technique as a whole. In this context it is observed that the traditional criterion of performance — system signal-to-noise ratio — should be replaced by a signal-to-artifact estimate, and that this may affect the design and implementation of detector systems to a significant extent.

scholarly journals Using a Common Average Reference to Improve Cortical Neuron Recordings From Microelectrode Arrays

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 1679-1689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kip A. Ludwig ◽  
Rachel M. Miriani ◽  
Nicholas B. Langhals ◽  
Michael D. Joseph ◽  
David J. Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Reference Electrode ◽  
Sprague Dawley ◽  
Average Reference ◽  
Markov Theorem ◽  
Sprague Dawley Rats ◽  
On Chip ◽  
Mathematical Justification ◽  
Signal Sources

In this study, we propose and evaluate a technique known as common average referencing (CAR) to generate a more ideal reference electrode for microelectrode recordings. CAR is a computationally simple technique, and therefore amenable to both on-chip and real-time applications. CAR is commonly used in EEG, where it is necessary to identify small signal sources in very noisy recordings. To study the efficacy of common average referencing, we compared CAR to both referencing with a stainless steel bone-screw and a single microelectrode site. Data consisted of in vivo chronic recordings in anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats drawn from prior studies, as well as previously unpublished data. By combining the data from multiple studies, we generated and analyzed one of the more comprehensive chronic neural recording datasets to date. Reference types were compared in terms of noise level, signal-to-noise ratio, and number of neurons recorded across days. Common average referencing was found to drastically outperform standard types of electrical referencing, reducing noise by >30%. As a result of the reduced noise floor, arrays referenced to a CAR yielded almost 60% more discernible neural units than traditional methods of electrical referencing. CAR should impart similar benefits to other microelectrode recording technologies—for example, chemical sensing—where similar differential recording concepts apply. In addition, we provide a mathematical justification for CAR using Gauss-Markov theorem and therefore help place the application of CAR into a theoretical context.

scholarly journals Signal-to-noise ratio in the membrane potential of the owl's auditory coincidence detectors

2012 ◽  
Vol 108 (10) ◽  
pp. 2837-2845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Go Ashida ◽  
Kazuo Funabiki ◽  
Paula T. Kuokkanen ◽  
Richard Kempter ◽  
Catherine E. Carr
Keyword(s):  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Phase Locking ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Membrane Potentials ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Noise Ratio ◽  
Band Limited

Owls use interaural time differences (ITDs) to locate a sound source. They compute ITD in a specialized neural circuit that consists of axonal delay lines from the cochlear nucleus magnocellularis (NM) and coincidence detectors in the nucleus laminaris (NL). Recent physiological recordings have shown that tonal stimuli induce oscillatory membrane potentials in NL neurons (Funabiki K, Ashida G, Konishi M. J Neurosci 31: 15245–15256, 2011). The amplitude of these oscillations varies with ITD and is strongly correlated to the firing rate. The oscillation, termed the sound analog potential, has the same frequency as the stimulus tone and is presumed to originate from phase-locked synaptic inputs from NM fibers. To investigate how these oscillatory membrane potentials are generated, we applied recently developed signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) analysis techniques (Kuokkanen PT, Wagner H, Ashida G, Carr CE, Kempter R. J Neurophysiol 104: 2274–2290, 2010) to the intracellular waveforms obtained in vivo. Our theoretical prediction of the band-limited SNRs agreed with experimental data for mid- to high-frequency (>2 kHz) NL neurons. For low-frequency (≤2 kHz) NL neurons, however, measured SNRs were lower than theoretical predictions. These results suggest that the number of independent NM fibers converging onto each NL neuron and/or the population-averaged degree of phase-locking of the NM fibers could be significantly smaller in the low-frequency NL region than estimated for higher best-frequency NL.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document