Welcome

Welcome to the website for Autopatcher.org. This webpage lists relevant papers, parts lists and manuals, software, best practices, and partners, involved with the effort to advance the novel neurotechnology area of "in vivo robotics" -- the development and use of robots to analyze the living brain in a high-throughput, high-fidelity fashion.

Contact

Please send inquiries to info@autopatcher.org.

Abstract

Whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology of neurons, although a gold standard technique for high-fidelity analysis of the biophysical mechanisms of neural computation and pathology, requires great skill to perform. We have developed a simple robot that automatically performs patch clamping in vivo, algorithmically detecting cells by analyzing the temporal sequence of electrode impedance changes. We demonstrate good yield, throughput, and quality of recording in mouse cortex and hippocampus.

Papers

Link to the first paper, Kodandaramaiah et al., Nature Methods, 2012: [Publisher link] [Local copy (PDF format)]

Parts List and Manual

Links to parts list and manual (v1.2, includes MOSFET part number; v1.1, fixes a typo; v1.0, original manual accepted with paper): [PDF format, v1.2] [Word format, v1.2]

Software

Link to software: [Labview format]

FAQs and Best Practices

Over time we will post questions commonly emailed to us, along with the most generally applicable answers, in this space. Also, if you create new algorithms that run in the Autopatcher framework, we will be happy to post the most useful ones here (with full attribution of course).

News

[MIT, Georgia Tech robot records brain cell information (Mass High Tech, 5/6/2012)] [Robotic probes plumb brain's circuitry (EETimes, 5/6/2012)] [Robots that reveal the inner workings of brain cells (R&D Magazine, 5/7/2012)] [Robotic arm to reveal inner working of brain cells (New York Daily News, 5/7/2012)] [Robot brain scientists to learn how you think? (MSNBC, 5/7/2012)] [Bots beat humans probing brain's neural activity (CNET, 5/7/2012)] [MIT & Georgia Tech Researchers Develop Robots That Can Reveal the Inner Workings of Your Brain (BostInno, 5/7/2012)] [Robotic probes plumb brain's circuitry (EDN, 5/7/2012)] [Researchers automate process of recording data from neurons (The Engineer, 5/8/2012)] [Robot That Connects to Neurons Could Provide Key to Understanding the Human Brain (TIME, 5/9/2012)] [Research Brief: Robots Trained in Patch-Clamp Experiments (Alzheimer Research Forum, 5/11/2012)] [Robot Reveals Inner Workings of Brain Cells (Photonics.com, 5/10/2012)]

Companies and commercial partners

Neuromatic Devices, Inc. is seeking to create a commercial version of the autopatcher robot. (Anti-disclaimer: neither Profs. Boyden nor Forest are owners of, or otherwise financially linked to, this company.)