Multichannel Systems MEA1060-Inv-BC Manual - Manual (Page 31)

Operating the MEA Amplifier
27
Grounding the bath
You can ground the bath with a plain silver wire or with an Ag/AgCl pellet. Only the Ag/AgCl
electrode provides a stable intrinsic potential. In practice, the plain silver wire will be ok for 90 %
of applications. If you do not achieve satisfying results with the plain silver wire, try an Ag/AgCl
electrode.
If you use MEAs with internal reference electrode, you can use the reference electrode for
grounding the bath. This has the advantage that you can keep the culture chamber closed
and sterile (for example, with MEA-MEM semipermeable membranes).
Important: If you use a MEA with internal reference electrode, you have to connect pin 15
to ground with the provided cable. Setting electrode 15 to ground in the MEA_Select program
is not sufficient for grounding the bath.
1. Attach the provided silver wire or pellet to the amplifier's ground and place it into the bath,
near the rim of the culture chamber. If you use a MEA with internal reference electrode,
connect the ground to the reference electrode socket (pin 15) with the provided connector.
Make sure that the orientation of the MEA inside the amplifier is appropriate.
2. Replace the shielding. Make sure the setup is complete.
3. Click Change MEA again to reconnect the electrodes to the amplifier's input stage.
4. Wait until the amplifier has recovered and you see the standard noise level on all channels
before starting your experiment. The recovery time depends on the electrodes used and usually
takes about one or two minutes.