There is a large literature on this type of bio-electric recording. Go to www.pubmed.gov and type "smooth muscle contraction strength" (no quotes) in the search field. Try obtaining and looking at some of the manuscripts that come up. Many will include a methods section describing the details of the expts. There is a reference near the top of the list that is measuring tension in rabbit eye muscles. That sounds pretty small to me.
I'd shy away from "tattooing" a muscle, It is a living thing that won't take kindly to being punctured with a tattoo needle. Or even to many marking agents simply being applied to it's surface. You might also try monitoring the bio-electrical signal from the muscle itself. This can be done by placing a small electrode on the muscle surface. Then the signal needs to be amplified. -Darrell -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Brohan Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2004 8:12 PM To: Info-LabVIEW Subject: Monitoring Smooth Muscle activity I've been asked to provide suggestions and maybe later a quotation on a method of monitoring the origin, direction and force of contraction waves in smooth muscle of a rather small organ. The surface if interest is about 1 cm in diameter with some shape to it (not flat). Does anyone have any actual experience of this kind of application? The methods we have come up with so far are:- Machine vision, following marks tattooed on the organ as they go through their peristaltic (perhaps) motions. This would require some depth of field to view the marks which are more to the side than in the upper plane. Machine vision from the inside. Who makes the world's smallest fish-eye lens? Temperature probes with tiny thermocouples inserted into the muscle. Does the temperature of smooth muscle rise during a contraction, or is the heating up a gross effect related to activity? Does anyone know of pressure sensors small enough to insert into the muscle of an organ this size? It is possible to put a little belt around it rather like the device for monitoring a woman's contractions in labor. But again small's the word Laser distance measurement is another possibility but I don't know the size of the target area and the precision, In our case the area would be in the order of 1mm square with a precision of 0.1mm. Are there any strain gauges which can be stuck onto tissue like little band-aids? One of the beauties of this list is that there are people here who each know things that only a small group of others are aware of! Yours Sincerely John -- John Brohan National Instruments LabVIEW expert in Montreal Traders Micro "We connect all sorts of things to computers" 317 Barberry Place DDO Montreal PQ Canada H9G 1V3 Tel (514)995-3749 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.TradersMicro.com/Index.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Notice: This e-mail message, together with any attachments, contains information of Merck & Co., Inc. (Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, USA), and/or its affiliates (which may be known outside the United States as Merck Frosst, Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD) that may be confidential, proprietary copyrighted and/or legally privileged, and is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity named on this message. If you are not the intended recipient, and have received this message in error, please immediately return this by e-mail and then delete it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
