Losing signal

Hi,

I've been using the 256MEA to record from dissected retina tissue but I'm having difficulty with getting signal that lasts. After mounting the tissue on the array, I get signal from multiple channels (sometimes very strong) but it disappears within ~5 min and I'm unable to recover it. I press down the tissue with a membrane fitted to a custom made perfusion chamber surrounding the recording area. The array has been used before I started using it so it could be damaged, and I admit to slightly touching the area near the electrodes with ethanol-soaked q-tip (although now I realize that one should never do this). I'm unaware of any kind of previous coating or treatment to make the surface hydrophillic; it is possible that nothing has been done. My guess is that the electrodes are fine since I get signal at least for a while, and I'm inclined to think that I need to improve the contact between the tissue and the electrodes. Do you have any ideas for troubleshooting this?

Thanks!

Hello,
I suggest to get in touch with Thoralf Herrmann at the NMI, he has a similar application and much experience:

Thoralf Herrmann
Tel.: +49 7121 51530-852
therrmann@nmi.de

Frank