Ultra-Small Digital Headstages for Electrophysiology

Large-scale data in small-scale freely-behaving animals

Next-generation miniature digital headstages for high-channel-count electrophysiology in the smallest of behaving animals.

64 - 256 channel electrophysiology in freely-behaving mice and more...

Camridge NeuroTech mini-amp-64 ultra-small digital headstages for electrophysiology in freely-behaving mice and rats

Big, bulky implants result in poor data quality and impeded behaviour. Our implantable and reusable miniature digital headstages allow you to shrink your implants without compromising on data yield or quality. The headstages are so small and light you can even mount a pair on a behaving mouse for dual-target 256-channel electrophysiology!

We have created tiny headstages that integrate without world-class silicon neural probes and connect directly to your existing SPI data cable which remove a significant mechanical stress factor when it comes to hooking-up your animals for recording, in turn facilitating more naturalistic behaviour and superior data quality overall.


Electrophysiology re-imagined.... upgrade your existing headstages and free your animals!

Our mini-amps are plug-n-play with range of popular data-acquisition systems such as Open Ephys and Intan so it's simple to upgrade your existing system. Not only will you gather a lot more single unit data per animal, there are also options for multiple EEG / EMG channels and a 3-axis accelerometer!

Cambridge-Neurotech-Silicon-Neural-Probe-Miniature-Digital-Headstage-on-Mouse


Data is digitised on-skull and since your SPI data cable connects directly to the headstage, the weight and torque experienced by your animal does not increase when connected to your recording system, in turn facilitating naturalistic behaviour.

With tiny on-skull footprints (64 ch 3x7 mm; 128 ch. 3x8mm) and sub-1g weights you can readily assemble complete implants (probe, nano-Drive & headstage for as little as a couple of grams (including cement!). Nothing else on the market can compete...

Space- and weight-saving, mechanical-stress avoided and high-channel count electrophysiology opened up for the smallest of lab animals - shouldn't you already be using mini-amps in your experiments?

Target two regions with independently-movable probes...

Our newest mini-amp-128 headstages are so small that even a freely-behaving mouse can carry two headstages (256 channels total), each connected to an independently-movable probe (single-sided or double-sided) or even to a pair of custom 3-D stacked probes, for ultra-high-density recording in a single brain target.

Our innovative motorised active commutators are designed to pair seamlessly with the headstages allowing for up to 256 channel electrophysiology by handling a pair of SPI data cables (one for each mini-amp-128 headstage), thereby avoiding cable twisting during naturalistic behaviour.

Given the small-footprint on the skull, this opens up room to add in other tools such as fiber-optic cannulas and so on, to create truly compact multi-modal implants tailored to your experimental questions.

On-skull re-usable headstages with multi-functional features...

Cambridge-Neurotech-Silicon-Neural-Probe-Miniature-Digital-Headstage for electrophysiology in mice and rats

A protective 3D-printed implant caddy houses the mini-amp headstage whilst implanted and allows for straightforward recovery and re-use of the headstage on your next subject. Built-in features include ability to separate REF and buffered-GND, 3-axis XYZ accelerometer, +3V for user-attached sensors / LEDs and 5x additional analog inputs for EEG / EMG wires too.

Up-gradable plug-n-play with existing data-acquisition systems...

We've designed the mini-amp headstages to be a straightforward 'swap-out' for your existing legacy digital headstages from any of the following manufacturers: Open Ephys, Intan, Neuralynx, Plexon,Tucker-Davis Technologies and Neuronexus. As an upgrade to your existing system this will allow you to take full advantage of the space and weight-saving features of the mini-amp headstages and the benefits that brings to free-behaviour, with minimal disruption to your existing workflow and setup.

The mini-amp-64 can also be used with the Neuralynx FreeLynx and / or the SpikeGadgets wireless headstages too...

Proving that SMALLER is BETTER!

Proving that SMALLER is BETTER!

See just how small the mini-amp-64 headstage is on a mouse skull compared to the 'classic' bulky connector / headstage combo. Shown alongside our chronic nano-Drive and silicon neural probe to form a complete 64-channel implant.

Gyorgy Buzsaki
"For our application combining chronic imaging and electrophysiology, 3-D chronic probe stacks mounted on nano-Drives are unparalleled... allowing high signal-to-noise, high-density recording across multiple regions. Our project would not be possible without this technology."

Gyorgy Buzsaki

Lab Head, NYU School of Medicine, New York, USA

Brain Area: cortex Species: Mouse

Download our Catalog

Browse our complete range of tools; find your ideal probes and accessories

Read More