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Mechanical Movement of the Insect Heart recorded with a Continuous Laser Beam

Abstract

WE describe here a technique—using a laser—for measuring the contractile excursions of the insect heart after the insect (in this case Sarcophaga bullata) has been immobilized in wax, and sections of the dorsal abdominal wall removed. The laser technique makes it possible to record mechanical movement from a selected area of tissue without interfering with a capillary microelectrode which records bioelectric events from a single cell.

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WILLIAMS, G., BALLARD, R. & HALL, M. Mechanical Movement of the Insect Heart recorded with a Continuous Laser Beam. Nature 220, 1241–1242 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/2201241a0

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