INQUIMAE   12526
INSTITUTO DE QUIMICA, FISICA DE LOS MATERIALES, MEDIOAMBIENTE Y ENERGIA
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Increasing the reliability of solution exchanges by monitoring solenoid valve actuation
Autor/es:
AUZMENDI, JERÓNIMO A; MOFFATT, LUCIANO
Revista:
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS
Editorial:
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
Referencias:
Año: 2009
ISSN:
0165-0270
Resumen:
Solenoid valves are a core component of most solution perfusion systems used in neuroscience research. As they open and close, they control the flow of solution through each perfusion line, thereby modulating the timing and sequence of chemical stimulation. The valves feature a ferromagnetic plunger that moves due to the magnetization of the solenoid and returns to its initial position with the aid of a spring. The delays between the time of voltage application or removal and the actual opening or closing of the valve are difficult to predict beforehand and have to be measured experimentally. Here we propose a simple method for monitoring whether and when the solenoid valve opens and closes. The proposed method detects the movement of the plunger as it generates a measurable signal on the solenoid that surrounds it. Using this plunger signal, we detected the opening and closing of diaphragm and pinch solenoid valves with a systematic error of less than 2 ms. After this systematic error is subtracted, the trial-to-trial error was below 0.2 ms.