TERMIUM Plus®

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SICM [1 record]

Record 1 2014-05-06

English

Subject field(s)
  • Scientific Instruments
  • Cytology
CONT

... the scanning ion-conductance microscope (SICM) ... scans a sample not with a metal or diamond tip but with a glass micropipette containing a tiny electrode. The workers immerse the sample and the pipette in a bath of electrolyte (such as a salt solution) and establish a voltage difference between the electrode within the pipette and another electrode in the bath. A current of ions tends to flow between the electrodes by way of the pipette opening, but when the pipette approaches the surface of the sample, the current weakens. It disappears altogether when the scanned pipette touches the sample, which blocks the opening. Equipped with a feedback mechanism that maintains a constant ion current through the pipette opening, the SICM can profile a sample's topography. The fineness of the pipette does limit the SICM's resolution to about .2 micron (10 nanometers may eventually be feasible).

OBS

The device is therefore best suited to more specialized functions - studying a living cell's electrical behavior, for example. When a cell is stimulated, so-called ion channels in its membrane open and close, allowing tiny currents of ions to pass. Hansma hopes to detect individual ion channels and study their behavior once the SICM's resolution has been improved.

French

Domaine(s)
  • Instruments scientifiques
  • Cytologie
OBS

Il est vrai que le microscope à effet tunnel et son cousin le microscope à conductance ionique (SCIM) ont des applications potentiellement très importantes en biologie.

Spanish

Campo(s) temático(s)
  • Instrumentos científicos
  • Citología
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