An interactive, menu driven and easy to use program which simulates experiments performed on the sciatic nerve-anterior tibialis muscle preparation of the cat (in vivo) to illustrate the important differences in the pharmacological action of depolarizing and non-depolarizing blocking agents.

An on-screen student handbook covers:

• an outline, using text and graphics of the process of neuromuscular transmission
• the preparation of the anaesthetised cat,
• the protocol for sciatic nerve stimulation and isometric recording of evoked contractions of the anterior tibialis muscle.
• a summary of the actions of the different types of blocking agents
• the clinical relevance of the different blocking agents.

The Experiments Section presents high-resolution graphic simulations of experimental results (muscle contractions), in accelerated time, on a scrolling display to simulate a chart recorder.

Phase I experiments - each experiment compares the action of the two types of neuromuscular blocking agent using d-tubocurarine as an example of a non-depolarizing blocker and decamethonium as an example of a depolarizing blocker.

• administered i.v.
• administered close arterially
• inconjunction with an anticholinesterase
• inconjunction with a different competitive (non-depolarizing) blocker
• inconjunction with a different depolarizing blocker
• inresponse to tetanic stimulation
• inresponse to acetylcholine administered by close arterial injection.

Phase II experiments

• the effects of four successive doses of decamethonium followed by the effects of tetanic stimulation and an anticholinesterase

Student Activities

Each experiment has an associated student activity designed to assess understanding of the experimental results. These might be a series of true/false statements or a table to complete. There are also some suggested questions which would form the basis of a report of the experiment.

System Requirements: Windows: Intel Pentium II 450MHz or faster processor (or equivalent), 128MB of RAM; Microsoft Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Macintosh: PowerPC G3 500MHz or faster processor, 128MB of RAM; Mac OS X v.10.1.x, 10.2.x, 10.3.x, or 10.4.x

Recommended browser software: Windows: Internet Explorer; Macintosh: Safari or Firefox; Both: Adobe Flash Player plug-in, version 8 or higher.

Screenshot_1