Scientists Empowering Scientists: About Retinal Electrophysiology, Combining Light Beams and Dealing with Noise

Many researchers combine electrophysiological recordings with imaging applications, where a light source with high light output at various wavelengths and fast switching times is an invaluable tool. The proven Sutter Instrument Lambda DG-4/DG-5 family of high-speed illumination systems has now been succeeded by the Lambda 721 optical beam combining system. Telly Galiatsatos will introduce the contemporary LED-based light source and some of the applications it enables.

 

The second speaker, Fatima Abbas from University of Utah, will present her recent research.  Fatima uses Sutter Instrument amplifier systems for recordings of ex vivo electroretinograms in several model organisms to investigate the physiology of photoreceptors and bipolar cells in health and disease. More recently she has recorded photoreceptor and bipolar cell responses from postmortem human retina – publishing the first known recordings of these responses specifically from the human macula.

 

Noise is a very common issue in many electrophysiological recording techniques. From mechanical vibrations, over the ubiquitous line frequency hum, to pickup of signals from electronic devices, there are various forms of noise that can contaminate, or even completely obscure the signal of interest. The third speaker, Jan Dolzer, will discuss tips and tricks on how to implement the best strategy of dealing with noise – avoiding it, rather than filtering it out in post-processing.