Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802.
Center for Neural Engineering, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802.
eNeuro. 2019 Jan 7;5(6). doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0261-18.2018. eCollection 2018 Nov-Dec.
A multielectrode system that can address widely separated targets at multiple sites across multiple brain regions with independent implant angling is needed to investigate neural function and signaling in systems and circuits of small animals. Here, we present the systemDrive, a novel multisite, multiregion microdrive that is capable of moving microwire electrode bundles into targets along independent and nonparallel drive trajectories. Our design decouples the stereotaxic surgical placement of individual guide cannulas for each trajectory from the placement of a flexible drive structure. This separation enables placement of many microwire multitrodes along widely spaced and independent drive axes with user-set electrode trajectories and depths from a single microdrive body, and achieves stereotaxic precision with each. The system leverages tight tube-cannula tolerances and geometric constraints on flexible drive axes to ensure concentric alignment of electrode bundles within guide cannulas. Additionally, the headmount and microdrive both have an open-center design to allow for the placement of additional sensing modalities. This design is the first, in the context of small rodent chronic research, to provide the capability to finely position microwires through multiple widely distributed cell groups, each with stereotaxic precision, along arbitrary and nonparallel trajectories that are not restricted to emanate from a single source. We demonstrate the use of the systemDrive in male Long-Evans rats to observe simultaneous single-unit and multiunit activity from multiple widely separated sleep-wake regulatory brainstem cell groups, along with cortical and hippocampal activity, during free behavior over multiple many-day continuous recording periods.
需要一种多电极系统，该系统能够以独立的植入角度在多个脑区的广泛分离的目标上进行寻址，以研究小动物系统和电路中的神经功能和信号。在这里，我们提出了系统驱动（systemDrive），这是一种新型的多部位、多区域微驱动器，能够将微丝电极束沿独立且非平行的驱动轨迹移动到目标位置。我们的设计将每个轨迹的单个导向套管的立体定位手术与柔性驱动结构的放置分开。这种分离使得可以沿着用户设定的电极轨迹和深度，从单个微驱动器主体沿着广泛间隔和独立的驱动轴放置许多微丝多电极，并实现每个电极的立体定位精度。该系统利用紧密的管套管公差和柔性驱动轴的几何约束，确保电极束在导向套管内的同心对准。此外，头架和微驱动器都具有中心开口设计，可以放置其他传感模式。就小型啮齿动物慢性研究而言，这种设计首次提供了通过多个广泛分布的细胞群以精细定位微丝的能力，每个细胞群都具有立体定位精度，沿着任意且非平行的轨迹，这些轨迹不受限于单个源发出。我们展示了 systemDrive 在雄性 Long-Evans 大鼠中的使用情况，以在多天连续记录期间，在自由行为期间观察来自多个广泛分离的睡眠-觉醒调节脑干细胞群的同时单单位和多单位活动，以及皮质和海马体活动。
