The development of multi-channel micro-electrodes has allowed researchers to gain a useful understanding of how multitudes of neurons interact and communicate with each other. The micro-electrode technology has provided a logical growth path for the researcher to gather up to 100 channels of data from complex neural networks. However, in order to record 100 channels the researcher at present must go through the tedious task of manually setting up amplifier and filter settings with no way to verify the accuracy and operation of the analog system. In addition, the manually controlled amplifier requires multiple knobs and dials for control and thus takes up a large amount of laboratory space. We propose to develop a low cost, miniature, programmable amplifier and filter that will interface to a preamplifier/electrode setup. This unique design will provide necessary amplification for up to 100 channels and remove any low frequency drifts and electrical noise in advance, plus provide a calibration signal to check the accuracy of the amplifier for data recording devices. The programmability of the system will allow researchers to automate the setup for each experiment without having to depend on memory or tedious manual verification of filter and gain settings. This will provide researchers with precious time to gain more or improved results from each preparation.
The micro-electrode created a special demand for a high channel count computer controlled amplifier/filter sub- system in the life science application. No commercial company has developed a simple-to-use, low cost and smaller size programmable amplifier/filter dedicated for this market. The amplifier also has general appeal in the industrial sector for vibration strain and acoustic measurement. It will be an excellent analog front end for other general purpose computer based data acquisition systems, DAT, and analog recording instruments.
