Intramuscular electromyography measurement in zebrafish larvae using a microneedle electrode

This paper reports a novel needle electromyography system that can be used for micro-animals as small as 5-dpf zebrafish larvae. Zebrafish models are one of widely used animal models in the study of neuromuscular diseases and the development of new treatment agents. Also, the need for needle electromyography(EMG) is increasing to validate transgenic zebrafish models with muscular dystrophies and to validate the efficacy of therapeutics. However, due to the small size of 5-dpf zebrafish larvae, whose body is shorter than 4mm and narrower than 300μm, needle electromyography has not been performed on them to date. In this paper, we introduce a novel needle EMG system that includes a new EMG sensor microfabricated based on silicon and a novel immobilization method that does not require the treatment of any anesthetic agents on animals.