Automated whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology of neurons in vivo

A robot, algorithm and software for automated in vivo intracellular electrophysiology are reported that can automatically perform whole-cell patch clamping in the living mouse brain with quality comparable to that for a trained human experimenter. Whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology of neurons is a gold-standard technique for high-fidelity analysis of the biophysical mechanisms of neural computation and pathology, but it requires great skill to perform. We have developed a robot that automatically performs patch clamping in vivo , algorithmically detecting cells by analyzing the temporal sequence of electrode impedance changes. We demonstrate good yield, throughput and quality of automated intracellular recording in mouse cortex and hippocampus.