High-speed CCD imaging system for monitoring neural activity in vivo and in vitro, using a voltage-sensitive dye.
We have designed and constructed a high-speed CCD imaging system for optically detecting neural activity from preparations stained externally with a voltage-sensitive dye, and have used this system to image evoked and epileptiform neural activity in the rat somatosensory cortex. The imaging system uses a commercially available 1/3-in. CCD chip, and it can continuously capture images for more than 8 s, at 1000 frames/s, with a spatial resolution of 128 x 62 pixels. The spatial/temporal resolution of the CCD sensor is variable by changing the geometry of on-chip binning pixels, which can be controlled by a PC/AT computer. Dye bleaching correction was not necessary for long-term imaging of epileptiform neural events, since the sensitivity of the CCD sensor was increased by combining the signal from adjacent pixels.
Takashima
I
I
Supermolecular Science Division, Electrotechnical Laboratory, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Ichikawa
M
M
Iijima
T
T
D000818:Animals; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000503:physiopathology; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D018715:Microscopy, Video; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors
D005456:Fluorescent Dyes