• Heat from 20 to 50°C in 3 seconds, then cool to 2°C in just a few more seconds — all controlled by your electrophysiology software
• Display Peltier, heatsink or bath temperature
• Set the desired temperature from the front panel or from your computer: The CS-1 can generate any desired timecourse of temperature change, by simply converting a voltage from your interface into a temperature
• Optically isolated bath sensor for low noise
• Suitable for single channel (no detectable noise added), whole cell patch clamping, or fluorescent ion imaging of groups of cells
• Optional water cooling for low-temperature work
• Two output BNCs to monitor and record two temperatures externally (e.g. Peltier and bath)
• All components included – five minute setup
• Tried and tested design, used in major thermoTRP labs for over a decade (publication list)

Superfuse small areas (e.g. groups of cells) in a recording bath at a precise, controlled, and rapidly adjustable local temperature. This system has been specifically developed for patch clamp experiments to apply thermal stimuli without introducing noise or interference. It is also suitable for intracellular ion imaging in cultured cells or tissue slices, oocyte recording, intracellular microelectrode recording, or extracellular (e.g. brain slice) recording.

Effect of flow rate on the static temperature and on the rate of temperature change.

(A) Static temperature at the Peltier element (circles), in the solution leaving the Peltier element (squares), and at the cell (triangles) at flow rates between 0.6 and 1.7 ml/ min. Command temperatures were 50°C and 0°C, and feedback was from the Peltier element.

(B) Temperature at the cell during step temperature commands at flow rates of 0.6, 1.0 and 1.7 ml/min. The initial temperature at the heating/cooling chamber was 32°C and the command temperature was stepped to 0°C for 30 s, then back to 32°C.

Reid, et al, J Neuroscience Methods, 2001