NEW Mono-coil Patch Cable Wrap for Optogenetics
Based on your feedback during Neuroscience, we are now officially launching the stainless steel, mono-coil wrap for PlexBright® Optical Patch Cables. Prior to this launch, Plexon already offered two cable types for optogenetic experiments with freely behaving animals: the standard 900µm, very flexible cable ideal for use with mice, and a reinforced cable with a stainless steel armored jacketing great for use with aggressive rats (or anyone needing special care to protect the cable and fiber within).
The new stainless steel, mono-coil wrap for PlexBright cables provides the best of both worlds. It is:
- Far more flexible then armored jacketing,
- Far more protected than the standard, unjacketed cable, and
- Enhances commutator operation over a cable without a wrap.
The new mono-coil wrap will be available for PlexBright Optical Patch Cables used with Compact LED Modules (used with commutators) as well as Table-top LED Modules, and it can be applied to optical patch cables having an LC Ferrule tip (likely for a mouse) or an FC Ferrule tip (likely for rats and larger animals). Further, it will be offered in the standard sizes of 0.5m, 1.0m and 1.5m, or manufactured to a custom length.
Updated, Expanded PlexBright® Starter Kits
PlexBright Starter Kits are an excellent way for labs new to optogenetics, or just new to the PlexBright Optogenetic Stimulation System, to get started quickly and at a special discount.
With the recent launch of the NEW Carousel™ Commutator for simultaneous use with optogenetics and neural recording using digital headstages (announced last month), and the NEW stainless steel, mono-coil optical patch cable wrap discussed above, we have completely revamped our PlexBright Starter Kits!
First, we have expanded on the original three starter kits to now offer 14 options! No matter what your optogenetic experimental design might be, we have a starter kit for you to help you save money. Simply choose options from a few categories as follows:
- Experimental model (freely behaving, head-fixed, or in vitro)
- Animal model (mouse-sized and smaller, or rat-sized and larger)
- Type of controller/driver (the 4 Channel Optogenetic Controller or the LD-1 Single Channel Driver),
- Type of commutator (none, optogenetics only, with neural recording using digital headstages, or with neural recording using analog headstages).
With those four pieces of information, we can select the most ideal Starter Kit for your experiment – and save you more than $1,000 in some cases.
Second, with the popularity of the NEW stainless steel, mono-coil optical patch cable wrap, we have replaced all optical patch cables in relevant Starter Kits having armored jacketing with mono-coil wrapped ones. Any quotes requested for PlexBright Starter Kits from this point forward related to freely behaving animal experiments will contain the new mono-coil wrapped optical patch cables.
Did You Know . . .OFS Tricks?
First Trick – To limit the waveforms viewed in the waveform and cluster displays, click on the “Control Displays” checkbox in the Timeline view. This causes the Waveforms, cluster and other displays to only show the waveforms or points that are within the time range of the Timeline view. Move through time to get exactly what is wanted in the displays using the scroll bar and zoom in/out buttons. Quickly snap the Timeline view to one particular Segment by right-clicking in the Timeline view and clicking “Zoom Time Range to Selected Time Segment”.
Second Trick – To only perform sorting on waveforms or points in cluster displays that are visible, go to the “Waveforms” menu and select “Use Only Currently Visible Waveforms”. Any waveform crossing or cluster circling or auto-sorting procedures will only affect the waveforms or points visible, leaving all other non-visible waveforms unaffected.
Third Trick – To only perform sorting on waveforms or points in cluster displays that are unsorted, go to the “Waveforms” menu and select
“Use Only Unsorted”. Any waveform crossing or cluster circling or auto-sorting procedures will only affect the waveforms or points that are unsorting, leaving all other sorted units unaffected.
PlexStim™ Python SDK Online
As a complement to the PlexStim Electrical Stimulator, we offer a software development kit (SDK) to expand the flexibility of the system. We recently uploaded the newest PlexStim SDK that now contains
Python support in addition to C++ and MATLAB. Find the SDK and the accompanying PyPlexStim Technical Guide.
OmniPlex® Software v1.14.1 Now Available
OmniPlex® Software v1.14.1 launched this month offers significantly faster auxiliary analog input (AuxAI) digitizing rates for high-frequency non-neural data, added support for a second digital input (DI) card, and increased maximum neural spike waveform length ideal for researchers performing recordings in the cerebellum as well as those targeting dopaminergic cells.
NEW Carousel™ Commutator
The Carousel Commutator is for use with digital headstages in neural recording and/or PlexBright LED Modules for optogenetics – the newest in a line of sophisticated Plexon commutators.
NEW Lime LED Modules for Optogenetics
New Lime LED Modules (550nm) offer high power and a broad wavelength activation spectrum attractive to researchers working with halorhodopsins or archaerhodopsins. Check out the LED module and opsin activity spectral charts in the “Plexon Inc Launches New PlexBright® Lime LED Modules with Impressive Power and Broad Opsin Activation Spectrum” news release.