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Project Overview
Project Overview
Background
Background
Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are characterized by the loss of control over alcohol consumption and the emergence of negative emotionality during abstinence from alcohol.
The Contet Laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute strives to identify genes that inhibit or encourage a dependency on alcohol. It investigates the molecular mechanisms that mediate the behavioral effects of alcohol, focusing on the neuroadaptations that drive excessive drinking, alcohol addiction, and withdrawal symptoms.
Fiber photometry is implemented to correlate the mice’s overall drinking habits with their behavior and neural activity. I.e., express a fluorescent calcium sensor in target cells, implant a fiber optic in the brain region of interest and record fluorescence during the 2BC session (neuronal activity is associated with increased intracellular calcium levels, so fluorescence is used as a proxy for neuronal firing). However, since the device from last year didn’t have an open top, the system was incompatible with fiber photometry. In addition, there were several problems with system maintenance and wireless connection. We needed to solve these issues and enhance the system for our project.
About Mouse Lickometers
About Mouse Lickometers
A Mouse Lickometer combining with fiber photometry will help bridge the connection between the mice’s drinking habits and their neural activity, thus enabling the Contet Laboratory to find connections between alcoholic tendencies and the biological/neurological predispositions of the mice.
Objective
Objective
The project aims to develop and improve on the old lickometer system, which can measure real-time liquid consumption. Our project fixes practical issues and enable full compatibility with concomitant fiber photometry recording. Please see Final Design for more information.
Project from Last Year
This project aims to create a device that records the volume of alcohol drank by a mouse using pressure sensor attached to a microcontroller to regulate the amount of alcohol consumed. To properly implement fiber photometry and sync the neural activity to physica mice drinking behavior, a device to record the amount of alcohol the mouse consumes in real time is necessary.
https://sites.google.com/a/eng.ucsd.edu/156b-2019-spring-team05/
Project Objectives
Project Objectives
Design Concerns
Design Concerns
Milestone 1: Housing Redesign
Fully detachable system -- every part can be separated
The shelf is made by acrylic sheets
All holders are 3D printed
This is the final design of the hardware which composed of two major components, photo interrupter housing and shelf with holders. We have moved the housing from the top to the side of the cage, in that case, we need to resign the entire housing. The main function of the shelf is to hold all major electronic and mechanical components, including micro-controller and PCB boards, two sets of glass tubes. This shelf will be connected to the cage with transporting tubes, inserting the sipper valves into the cage.
Milestone 2: Optimized Vessel System
There are 4 parts in the system. Tubes, Two way toggle, pressure sensor, drinking valve.
Both tubes contain the same solution, either water or water-ethanol
The reference tube is connected to air buffer, which can be closed off from the environment to create a pressurized column and to prevent liquid or air flow within it.
The drinking tube is opened to Atmosphere and constant at ambient pressure.
When a mouse consumes liquid from the drinking tube, only the liquid in the drinking tube (right tube open to atmosphere) will decrease, while air buffer tube remains at its constant height.
This difference in liquid heights causes a pressure differential in the system by P= ρgh . This pressure differential is sensed by a pressure sensor strategically connected to the air buffer via a series of adapters and tubes.
Milestone 3: Data Acquisition System
Key equation - P= ρgh
Air Buffer Mechanism: How does it work?
All the components in the Vessel System can be easily cleaned and removed separately.
The entire vessel system seals well and the precision of liquid measurement is better than 10 micro liters.
To provide a better reliability of the lickometer, the data transfer will rely on USB cable.
The figure above shows how to set up wire connection between ESP32-S and host laptop.
Milestone 4: Graphic User Interface
The Graphic User Interface (GUI) enables researchers operate the system easily.
Users can input the parameters manually and automatically.
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