High-speed solution switching using piezo-based micropositioning stages.
Motion-induced vibration is a critical limitation in high-speed micropositioning stages used to achieve solution switching. Controlled rapid solution switching is used to study the fast activation and deactivation kinetics of ligand-gated ion-channel populations isolated in excised membrane patches--such studies are needed to understand fundamental mechanisms that mediate synaptic excitation and inhibition in the central nervous system. However, as the solution-switching speed is increased, vibration induced in the piezo-based positioning stages can result in undesired, repeated, ligand application to the excised patch. The article describes a method to use knowledge of the piezo-stage's vibrational dynamics to compensate for and reduce these unwanted vibrations. The method was experimentally verified using an open-electrode technique, and fast solution switching (100 micros range) was achieved.
Stilson
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Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84112, USA.
McClellan
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Devasia
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D008959:Models, Neurological; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D014732:Vibration