2012- 21st Annual NC State Undergraduate Research Symposium

Session Time : 4/10/12 10:30 AM - 4/10/12 11:45 AM

Content Area : Biomedical Engineering

Poster Appointment: , -

Student Presenters :
Manix Lukungu Eluhu Biomedical Engineering

Mentors and/or Co-Authors :
Gregory McCarty Biomedical Engineering

Abstract Title : Tungsten-based Carbon Microelectrodes: A New Generation of Neurochemical Sensors?

Abstract :
Carbon Fiber microelectrodes are commonly employed to advance understanding of the role of chemical signaling in the brain. Unfortunately, these microelectrodes have several drawbacks including being fragile and having the potential for breaking when inserted into tissue. This drawback makes them difficult to implement in research on awake and behaving animals and makes them inappropriate for use in higher level mammals. This research is creating and testing tungsten-based carbon microelectrodes. These tungsten based carbon microelectrodes will be fabricated by coating tungsten microelectrodes with polymer films and then pyrolyzing the resulting structure to generate a carbon-surface on the microelectrode.