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The Virtual Laboratories:
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The Virtual Physiology programs are going far beyond conventional teaching tools, offering realistically appearing, fully equipped laboratories on the computer screen for free experimentation.
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All stimulation and recording devices are freely adjustable. Mathematical algorithms guarantee for the appropriate reactions of the preparations in all situations, also considering their physiological diversity.
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SimHeart and SimVessel feature physiological and pharmacological experi-ments with the isolated, perfused heart in the Langendorff-setup and with isolated smooth muscle strips of blood vessels (aorta) and the stomach (antrum) to examine the muscle contractions after application of physiolo-gical transmitters (Acetylcholine), hormones (Adrenaline) and diverse drugs like the competitive receptor antagonists (Atropine, Phentolamine, Propranolol) and non-competitive modulators of Ca2+-currents and Ca2+-concentrations (Verapamil, g-Strophantin). An additional “Drug Laboratory” can be used practicing the correct preparation of the requested dilutions.
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SimMuscle and SimNerv offer highly realistic experimental set-ups on the computer screen to record contractions of the frog’s gastrocnemic muscle (e.g. single twitches vs. tetanic contractions, muscle fatigue, curves of isometric and isotonic maxima) or compound action potentials from the frog’s sciatic nerve (dependence on electrode positions, refractory period, anode break potentials, etc.), respectively.
SimNeuron additionally allows performing widely used voltage- and current-clamp experiments in an easy to overlook lab design for recordings of current-voltage curves (reversal potentials etc.) or the threshold of action potential generation and its dependencies on stimulus strength and duration – also under application of TTX or TEA.
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Didactic Aspects:
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Although the virtual laboratories have originally been considered as minor substitutes of experiments with animal preparations, it turned out that the virtual labs can have major didactic advantages:
- The students are doing the experiments without negative emotions from the killing of an animal and without the fear that they need to kill one more animal if they are making a mistake that destroys the preparation.
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- Only in the virtual laboratories the students feel free to explore the reaction of the preparation on their own, including unconventional stimulation protocols.
- The students have the possibility studying the reactions of the virtual preparations without any time pressure - also on their computers at home.
- Technically more challenging experiments like voltage- and patch-clamp recordings, that are unfeasible to be physically carried out in students’ introductory courses, can be realized in silico with a user-friendly interface.
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under construction: SimPatch II ©:
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Voltage Clamp Experiments in a realistic lab environment.
Compiled for Win7 but so far still the old version in low resolution.
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