A novel method for glass micropipette polishing for electropatch clamp recording using oxygen plasma.

We have applied discharge plasma to the polishing of micropipettes for patch clamp experiments instead of the conventional heat-polishing method. Using the micropipettes given the treatment with O2 plasma, we succeeded in the formation of giga-seals on human Jurkat cells with 70% of trials. Ellipsometrical measurement of the effect of O2 plasma to etch thin films of SiO2 suggested that O2 plasma has virtually no effect on the etching of glass surface. Multiple advantages of this novel method for polishing are noted relative to the conventional method. In particular, this method makes the micropipette polishing remarkably convenient. The polishing effect of O2 plasma on micropipettes without effect on the physical etching provides a novel insight into the mechanism of polishing.