Epilepsy in kcnj10 Morphant Zebrafish Assessed with a Novel Method for Long-Term EEG Recordings.

We aimed to develop and validate a reliable method for stable long-term recordings of EEG activity in zebrafish, which is less prone to artifacts than current invasive techniques. EEG activity was recorded with a blunt electrolyte-filled glass pipette placed on the zebrafish head mimicking surface EEG technology in man. In addition, paralysis of agarose-embedded fish using D-tubocurarine excluded movement artifacts associated with epileptic activity. This non-invasive recording technique allowed recordings for up to one hour and produced less artifacts than impaling the zebrafish optic tectum with a patch pipette. Paralyzed fish survived, and normal heartbeat could be monitored for over 1h. Our technique allowed the demonstration of specific epileptic activity in kcnj10a morphant fish (a model for EAST syndrome) closely resembling epileptic activity induced by pentylenetetrazol. This new method documented that seizures in the zebrafish EAST model were ameliorated by pentobarbitone, but not diazepam, validating its usefulness. In conclusion, non-invasive recordings in paralyzed EAST syndrome zebrafish proved stable, reliable and robust, showing qualitatively similar frequency spectra to those obtained from pentylenetetrazol-treated fish. This technique may prove particularly useful in zebrafish epilepsy models that show infrequent or conditional seizure activity

A minimally invasive surgery robotic assistant for HALS–SILS techniques

This paper is focused in the design and implementation of a robotic surgical motion controller. The proposed control scheme addresses the issues related to the application of a robot assistant in novel surgical scenario, which combines hand assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS) with the single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) techniques. It is designed for collaborating with the surgeon in a natural way, by performing autonomous movements, in order to assist the surgeon during a surgical maneuver. In this way, it is implemented a hierarchical architecture which includes an upper auto-guide velocity planner connected to a low-level force feedback controller. The first one, based on a behavior approach, computes a collision free trajectory of the surgical instrument tip, held by the robot, for reaching a goal location inside of the abdominal cavity. On the other hand, the force feedback controller uses this trajectory for performing the instrument displacement by taking into account the holonomic movement constraints introduced by the fulcrum point. The aim of this controller is positioning the surgical instrument by minimizing the forces exerted over the abdominal wall due to the fulcrum location uncertainty. The overall system has been integrated in the control architecture of the surgical assistant CISOBOT, designed and developed at the University of Malaga. The whole architecture performance has been tested by means of in vitro trials