The Organ Bath

This organ bath consists of a perspex, lidded box containing a series of metal electrodes spaced 5mm apart. The nerve and muscle are laid across the electrodes. It is important to keep the preparation moist with frog Ringer solution throughout the experiment.

The muscle length is fixed at an optimal length (slightly stretched) by pinning at the knee and attaching the ligature tied around the Achilles tendon to the strain gauge. The pin should be inserted through the coarse connective tissue covering the patella to ensure that the nerve is not damaged. The ligature thread used should be pre-stretched.