Date of Award
12-2019
Degree Name
Master of Science in Engineering
Department
Electrical and Computer Engineering
First Advisor
Dr. Damon A. Miller
Second Advisor
Dr. Steven Durbin
Third Advisor
Dr. John Jellies
Keywords
Intracellular, electrometer, neuron, stimulation, device
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
The Western Michigan University Neurobiology Engineering Laboratory conducts re- search in energy-efficient electrical stimulation of biological neurons. Experimental work re- quires an intracellular electrometer to inject nanoamp-level currents into a biological neuron and to measure its membrane voltage response. In order to fully understand the generation of such minute currents, an `in-house' electrometer was designed, constructed, and validated. This required exploration of various design trade-offs including precision of generated nanoamp-level currents vs. susceptibility to noise, portability vs. functionality, and cost vs. functionality. The electrometer was successfully used to stimulate and measure responses of neurons from the medicinal leech Hirudo verbana.
Recommended Citation
Essenburg, Lucas M., "Intracellular Electrometer" (2019). Masters Theses. 5099.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/5099