Meeting Abstract
Chronically implanted headstage/electrode devices allow monitoring neural activity from free moving terrestrial animals. However, these devices have not been available for fish which resulted in chronically implanted electrodes being glued into place and unable to be repositioned which limited the experiment to the origin implant site. In this study, an implantable two axis micromanipulator was fabricated from a 3 dimensional printer to record neural activity from toadfish. The manipulator consists of a platform, pilot, electrode chamber and screw. The manipulator measured approximately 25 x 20 x 30 mm (l x w x h) and weighed 5.28 grams. Microwire electrodes were inserted through the manipulator to record from the anterior lateral line nerve of the toadfish. The manipulator and resulting craniotomy was sealed with cyanoacrylate glue and the skin sutured around the turn screw to provide a water tight seal. Following implant, high fidelity signals were recorded from multiple afferent fibers in the anterior lateral line of the toadfish. Additional fibers could be recorded from by manually turning the manipulator drive.
