title: Methods for building an olfactometer with known concentration outcomes.
abstract: We provide detailed instructions and part selections for construction of a five-channel air dilution olfactometer capable of generating neat odorants and binary mixtures at a range of known concentrations. At the heart of the olfactometer is an odorant canister that is (1) cheap and readily available, (2) safe and durable, (3) has minimal odor adherence, (4) is easily incorporated into any olfactometer, and critically (5) produces a highly consistent stimulus. By flowing a given carrier gas at a given flowrate through a given odorant in this canister, the same end-vapor is achieved. Flow/concentration outcomes are provided for several odorants routinely used in olfactometry. This tool will enable researchers to generate known concentrations without expensive analytical machinery.
authors.affiliation: Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley, UC Berkeley/UC San Francisco Joint Graduate Group in Bioengineering, CA 94720, USA. bnjohnso@berkeley.edu
authors.forename: Bradley N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Noam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sobel
mesh_terms: D001273:Atmosphere Exposure Chambers / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004582:Electronics, Medical / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004864:Equipment and Supplies / Q000592:standards*; D005740:Gases / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009482:Neurophysiology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis*; D011601:Psychophysics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D005740:Gases