An Automatic Monitor System for AIROF Microelectrodes

We present the design of an automatic electrode monitoring system for activated iridium oxide (AIROF) microelectrodes. It\´s a valuable piece of instrument in use in our laboratory to monitor the "health" of chronic implanted microelectrodes before neural stimulation or recording experiments. It is capable of automatically measuring electrode voltage and current of a large number of electrodes within minutes. It helped us identify some electrode degradation problems, which otherwise remained undetected would jeopardize the validity of neuroscience experiments that use these electrodes. So we strongly advocate the safe use of chronic microelectrodes by driving them within the water window and regularly monitoring their "health"