Undergraduate Research Symposium 2023
As a recipient of the Mary Gates Research scholarship, I had the opportunity to showcase my work at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. It was my first time presenting a poster on my own, and although I was initially nervous, I discovered a newfound enjoyment in presenting and sharing my research with others. The response from fellow scientists and inquisitive undergraduates was incredibly positive, as they showed genuine interest in my work. This experience allowed me to refine my skills in creating scientific posters and conducting physical demonstrations. Additionally, I had the chance to present my research at the Computer Science Research Symposium a few weeks later, reaching an even wider audience. It is a good start to my journey in scientific communication, and I look forward to continuing to share my research with the world.
My Abstract
Electrophysiology experiments targeting deep brain structures require extensive training and expertise. However, even experienced researchers face challenges in placing electrodes precisely within a target location, particularly when using multiple electrodes simultaneously. On average, there is a 400-um (standard deviation) of human error when targeting Bregma and navigating to insertion coordinates. Slow setup time and human error can lead to unnecessary stress in experimental animals and prevent scientists from focusing on data collection. Our laboratory developed an experiment planning tool called Pinpoint to address these challenges. However, even with interactive tools, a typical two-probe experiment setup can take over an hour, increasing as more probes are added in complex experiments. To reduce time inefficiencies and lower the risk of human error, we developed an electrode manipulator automation platform for Pinpoint. Our platform consists of a server application called Ephys Link, which unifies communication between Pinpoint and various electrode manipulator platforms. With Ephys Link, scientists can view the electrodes they are using in their experiment live inside the virtual brain and pre-plan insertions for multiple probes. They can then simply press a button to have their probes automatically move to their chosen targets. We expect our automation pipeline to make multi-probe electrophysiology an easier and more accessible task for researchers, enabling them to focus on gathering high-quality data rather than managing the geometry of their experiments. To measure the impact of our automation platform, we plan to use positional logging, timed recordings, and researcher feedback to evaluate the efficacy of the pipeline in speeding up electrophysiology experiments. We expect to see increased targeting precision, reduced time setup time, and overall productivity boosts for researchers. By reducing electrophysiology’s difficulty and time-consuming nature, our automation pipeline helps researchers alleviate cumbersome experiment setups and prevent unnecessary stress on experimental animals.