ABSTRACT
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 234
Overview................................................................................................................................... 234
Monitoring Neural Activity...................................................................................................... 234
Voltammetry ............................................................................................................................. 236
Principles of FSCV at a CFM.................................................................................................. 236
Applications of FSCV at a CFM ............................................................................................. 238
Principles of Telemetry ................................................................................................................ 240
Resources .................................................................................................................................. 240
Theory and Basic Instrumentation ........................................................................................... 240
Digital Telemetry at 2.4 GHz................................................................................................... 242
Wireless Neural Monitoring and Control .................................................................................... 244
Scope......................................................................................................................................... 244
Electrophysiology ..................................................................................................................... 244
Voltammetry ............................................................................................................................. 245
Electrical Stimulation ............................................................................................................... 245
Real-Time Animal Telemetry ...................................................................................................... 245
Instrument Overview ................................................................................................................ 245
Establishment of Proof of Principle ......................................................................................... 247
Preliminary Findings in Freely Moving Animals .................................................................... 248
Future Directions .......................................................................................................................... 250
The Smaller the Better ............................................................................................................. 250
Multifunctional Wireless Instrument ....................................................................................... 250
Portable Microsensor Measurement System............................................................................ 251
Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 253
Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................ 253
References .................................................................................................................................... 253
A new instrument for the monitoring and control of neural activity is described in this chapter. The
novel characteristic, wireless communication, confers several advantages. Most revolve around
freeing the animal from the cable tether linking animal and recording equipment in traditional,
hardwired set-ups. The new instrument, called real-time animal telemetry or RAT, was initially
developed to support fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) at a carbon-fiber microelectrode (CFM).
Hence, a large portion of the background section of this chapter is dedicated to this voltammetric
microsensor technique for chemical monitoring. We are also working towards the goal of incor-
porating other microelectrode approaches into RAT, such as, electrophysiology for measuring
bioelectric signals and potentiometry for measuring ions. In theory, RAT could accommodate
any sensing technology that transduces the input signal into a voltage signal. While RAT was
also developed to support electrical stimulation for focally controlling neural activity, it should be
possible to incorporate other methods for this purpose as well. Before the actual description of the
wireless instrument, a brief primer on telemetry is presented, along with an abbreviated review of
existing wireless instruments for neural monitoring and control.