Design And Implementation Of Automatic Calibration And Test In Automatic Patch-Clamp Amplifier

In the traditional patch-clamp amplifier system, many parameters were adjusted manually; it was complicated and inefficient for users. So automatization is the trend of development of patch-clamp amplifier.This thesis describes the research and design of the automatic calibration and test of the computer-controlled patch-clamp amplifier, which are key parts of developing this instrument. By the automatic calibration, the values of parameters in the patch-clamp amplifier can be determined, the errors produced by the tolerances of electronic elements were minimized, and the precision of experiments can be improved. Furthermore, by the automatic test, faults of the hardware can be diagnosed.First, the background and development of patch-clamp amplifier are introduced. The architecture of patch-clamp amplifier and the improvement of amplifier for computer-controlling are discussed. Then the necessary and the contents of the calibration are analyzed, and it is described in detail that the probe and the programmable filter were calibrated. In the last part, the automatic test of some key circuits, such as the circuits of electrode voltage offset compensation, the stimulus pathway and the fast capacitance compensation, are described in detail.The experimental result has demonstrated that the values of the parameters were corrected and the precision of the instrument was ensured by the automatic calibration, and it will be helpful and quicker using the automatic test that users and developers debug and maintain the hardware of patch-clamp amplifier. In conclusion, it is the precondition for fulfilling the computer-controlled patch-clamp amplifier that the automatic calibration and test have been achieved.