Ring Electrode (ring + electrode)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Renewable Ceramic (TiN) Ring Electrode in Stripping Voltammetry.

ELECTROANALYSIS, Issue 16 2009
Determination of Pb(II) Without Removal of Oxygen
Abstract Characteristic features of the process of Pb(II) reduction and oxidation at a renewable ceramic ring electrode (RCRE) were studied by stripping voltammetry. The main constituents of the RCRE are: a specially constructed TiN ring electrode, a silver sheet used as silver counter/quasi-reference electrode and a silicon O-ring are fastened together in a polypropylene body. The renovation of this electrode is carried out through mechanical removal of solid contaminants and electrochemical activation in the electrolyte which fills the RCRE body. The optimal measurement conditions, composition of supporting electrolyte and procedures of the electrode activation were selected. The measurements were carried out from nondeaerated solutions. As shown on selected examples, RCRE exhibits good performance in underpotential deposition stripping voltammetry (UPD-SV) applied for the determination of lead(II) in synthetic solutions with and without surfactants and in certified reference materials. The peak current is proportional to the concentration of lead(II) over the range 2×10,9,1×10,7,mol L,1, with a 3, detection limit of 1×10,9,mol L,1 with an accumulation time of 30,s. The obtained results showed good reproducibility, (RSD=2,5%; n=5) and reliability. [source]


Identification and Characterization of Atrioventricular Parasympathetic Innervation in Humans

JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 8 2002
KARA J. QUAN M.D.
AV Parasympathetic Innervation.Introduction: We hypothesized that in humans there is an epicardial fat pad from which parasympathetic ganglia supply the AV node. We also hypothesized that the parasympathetic nerves innervating the AV node also innervate the right atrium, and the greatest density of innervation is near the AV nodal fat pad. Methods and Results: An epicardial fat pad near the junction of the left atrium and right inferior pulmonary vein was identified during cardiac surgery in seven patients. A ring electrode was used to stimulate this fat pad intraoperatively during sinus rhythm to produce transient complete heart block. Subsequently, temporary epicardial wire electrodes were sutured in pairs on this epicardial fat pad, the high right atrium, and the right ventricle by direct visualization during coronary artery bypass surgery in seven patients. Experiments were performed in the electrophysiology laboratory 1 to 5 days after surgery. Programmed atrial stimulation was performed via an endocardial electrode catheter advanced to the right atrium. The catheter tip electrode was moved in 1-cm concentric zones around the epicardial wires by fluoroscopic guidance. Atrial refractoriness at each catheter site was determined in the presence and absence of parasympathetic nerve stimulation (via the epicardial wires). In all seven patients, an AV nodal fat pad was identified. Fat pad stimulation during and after surgery caused complete heart block but no change in sinus rate. Fat pad stimulation decreased the right atrial effective refractory period at 1 cm (280 ± 42 msec to 242 ± 39 msec) and 2 cm (235 ± 21 msec to 201 ± 11 msec) from the fat pad (P = 0.04, compared with baseline). No significant change in atrial refractoriness occurred at distances > 2 cm. The response to stimulation decreased as the distance from the fat pad increased. Conclusion: For the first time in humans, an epicardial fat pad was identified from which parasympathetic nerve fibers selectively innervate the AV node but not the sinoatrial node. Nerves in this fat pad also innervate the surrounding right atrium. [source]


Influence on mass-selective ion ejection of the phase difference between the drive r.f. and the axial modulation potentials

JOURNAL OF MASS SPECTROMETRY (INCORP BIOLOGICAL MASS SPECTROMETRY), Issue 6 2005
G. Dobson
Abstract The phase difference between the drive r.f. and the axial modulation potential is known to influence significantly the mass shift, and all commercial ion trap mass spectrometers use a fixed value for this difference. However, although this important parameter is partly responsible for the good precision achievable today in most commercial ion traps, little discussion on the variation of the phase difference between the drive r.f. and the axial modulation potential has appeared in the literature. We present here an examination of the influence of a low-level axial modulation potential superimposed by capacitive coupling between the electrodes. Low-level axial modulation potentials are used for certain analytical scans such as reverse scan or slow scan speeds. Such low-level potentials help to prevent deterioration of mass resolution due to, for example, the dissociation of the ions during their resonant ejection from the ion trap. Reverse and forward scans are used to illustrate the mass shift and change in resolution, caused by a change in the phase difference between the drive r.f. potential applied to the ring electrode and the axial modulation potential applied on an end-cap electrode, in electrospray ionization mass spectra. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Flexible open-cell design for internal-source matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

RAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY, Issue 12 2001
Vladimir Frankevich
A new Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) cell design is described that improves the performance of internal-source matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) applications. The design employs a capacitively coupled open FTICR cell and a ring electrode placed between the ion source and the ICR cell. The flexibility of our open-cell design allows the use of several different trapping schemes for ion detection. Elimination of the drift time dependence in a MALDI experiment, ion accumulation, RF ion selection, and improved trapping of MALDI ions desorbed at an angle to the surface normal are some of the advantages of this design. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


The Use of Optical Fiber Bundles Combined with Electrochemistry for Chemical Imaging

CHEMPHYSCHEM, Issue 2 2003
Sabine Szunerits Dr.
Abstract The present Review describes the progress made in using imaging optical fiber bundles for fluorescence and electrochemical-initiated chemiluminescence imaging. A novel optoelectrochemical micro-ring array has been fabricated and demonstrated for concurrent electrochemical and optical measurements. The device comprises optical fibers coated with gold via electroless gold deposition and assembled in a random array format. The design yielded an array of approximately 200 micro-ring electrodes, where interdiffusional problems were minimized. The inner diameter of the ring electrode is fixed by the diameter of the individual optical fibers (25 ,m), while the outer radius is determined by the thickness of the deposited gold. While all the fibers are optically addressable, they are not all electrochemically addressable. The resolution of this device is in the tens of micrometers range, determined by the diameter of the optical fiber (25 ,m) and by the spacing between each electrically connected fiber. For the purpose of having well-behaved microelectrode characteristics, this spacing was designed to be larger than 60 ,m. The array was characterized using ferrocyanide in aqueous solution as a model electroactive species to demonstrate that this microelectrode array format exhibits steady-state currents at short response times. This device has potential application to be used as an optoelectronic sensor, especially for the electrolytic generation and transmission of electrochemiluminescence, and was used to demonstrate that electrochemically generated luminescent products can be detected with the fiber assembly. [source]


The effect of cutaneous input on intracortical inhibition in focal task-specific dystonia

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 9 2007
Michelle N. McDonnell PhD
Abstract In normal subjects short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) is topographically modulated by cutaneous input, which may be important for focusing muscle activation during tasks. In patients with writer's cramp, a task-specific focal dystonia characterized by inappropriate and excessive muscle activation of the upper limb during certain motor tasks, intracortical inhibition is reduced at rest and lacks the normal topographically-specific modulation during motor tasks. In the present study we investigated whether cutaneous input modulated SICI in a group of patients with writer's cramp and a control group of subjects. Electromyographic recordings were made from the right first dorsal interosseous (FDI), abductor pollicis brevis (APB), and abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscles. Brief electrical stimuli were applied to either digit II or digit V with ring electrodes. SICI was investigated using a paired transcranial magnetic stimulation paradigm employing interstimulus intervals of 1,15 ms. Cutaneous input from both digit II and digit V modulated motor evoked potentials and SICI in a topographically-specific manner in control subjects. In contrast, cutaneous input failed to modulate motor evoked potentials or SICI in the focal hand dystonia patients. These results provide further evidence of abnormal sensorimotor integration in focal hand dystonia. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society [source]


Increased proximal urethral sensory threshold after radical pelvic surgery in women,,

NEUROUROLOGY AND URODYNAMICS, Issue 2 2007
Thomas M. Kessler
Abstract Aim To identify factors that potentially influence urethral sensitivity in women. Patients and Methods The current perception threshold was measured by double ring electrodes in the proximal and distal urethra in 120 women. Univariate analysis using Kaplan,Meier models and multivariate analysis applying Cox regressions were performed to identify factors influencing urethral sensitivity in women. Results In univariate and multivariate analysis, women who had undergone radical pelvic surgery (radical cystectomy n,=,12, radical rectal surgery n,=,4) showed a significantly (log rank test P,<,0.0001) increased proximal urethral sensory threshold compared to those without prior surgery (hazard ratio (HR) 4.17, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.04,8.51), following vaginal hysterectomy (HR 4.95, 95% CI 2.07,11.85), abdominal hysterectomy (HR 5.96, 95% CI 2.68,13.23), or other non-pelvic surgery (HR 4.86, 95% CI 2.24,10.52). However, distal urethral sensitivity was unaffected by any form of prior surgery. Also other variables assessed, including age, concomitant diseases, urodynamic diagnoses, functional urethral length, and maximum urethral closure pressure at rest had no influence on urethral sensitivity in univariate as well as in multivariate analysis. Conclusions Increased proximal but unaffected distal urethral sensory threshold after radical pelvic surgery in women suggests that the afferent nerve fibers from the proximal urethra mainly pass through the pelvic plexus which is prone to damage during radical pelvic surgery, whereas the afferent innervation of the distal urethra is provided by the pudendal nerve. Better understanding the innervation of the proximal and distal urethra may help to improve surgical procedures, especially nerve sparing techniques. Neurourol. Urodynam. 26:208,212, 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Linear Ablation with Duty-Cycled Radiofrequency Energy at the Cavotricuspid Isthmus

PACING AND CLINICAL ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 4 2010
STEFANIE BOLL
Background: Multielectrode catheters using duty-cycled radiofrequency (RF) have been developed to treat atrial fibrillation (AF). Many of these patients also have atrial flutter. Therefore, a linear multielectrode has been developed using the same RF energy. Objective: The concept and acute results of linear ablation using duty-cycled RF were tested in the cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI). Methods: The CTI was targeted in 75 patients, in 68 (90%) among them as an adjunct to AF ablation with the same technology. A linear electrode catheter with a 4-mm tip and five 2-mm ring electrodes was connected to a generator titrating duty-cycled RF at 20,45 W up to a target temperature of 70°C in 1:1 unipolar/bipolar mode. Results: During a mean procedure time of 20 ± 12 minutes, complete CTI block was achieved by 4 ± 3 applications of duty-cycled RF in 69 (92%) patients. No more than three RF applications were necessary in 60% of patients. During the initial learning curve, standard RF had to be used in five (7%) patients. Complete block was not achieved in one patient with frequent episodes of AF. Char was observed in five (7%) patients with poor electrode cooling; consequently, the temperature ramp-up was slowed and manually turned off in the event of low-power delivery. Two groin hematomas occurred; otherwise, no clinical complications were observed. Conclusion: Multielectrode catheters delivering duty-cycled RF can effectively ablate the CTI with few RF applications with promising acute results. Further modifications are necessary to improve catheter steering and prevent char formation. (PACE 2010; 444,450) [source]