Silicon Neural Probes

World-leading silicon neural probes engineered for high-yield single unit electrophysiology with optogenetics

Our neuroscientist-designed range of silicon neural probes are optimized large-scale single unit recording combined with optogenetics in freely-behaving, head-fixed and anaesthetised animals.

OUR ADVANCED RANGE OF SILICON NEURAL PROBES

Benefiting from best-in-class signal to noise performance along with minimal sensitivity to photoelectric artifacts, our silicon neural probes allow you to easily acquire highly quality single unit and local field potential data in a wide range of experimental preparations spanning in vitro brain organoids to freely-behaving primates. Our probes offer exceptional long-term in vivo stability (record from the same neurons for weeks!) with minimally-invasive dimensions and seamless integration with our ultra-small chronic nano-Drives for combined electrophysiology + optogenetics. We also offer an innovative range of scalable, miniature wired and wireless digital headstages which are plug n play with our probes, allowing you to push your data-gathering to the limits!

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Gyorgy Buzsaki
"For our application combining chronic imaging and electrophysiology, 3-D chronic probe stacks mounted on nano-Drives are unparalleled... allowing high SNR, 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

We're in Neuron!

We're in Neuron!

Feb, 2019 - Our high-resolution H3 probes used for simultaneous recordings from all layers in the primary visual cortex (V1) of the behaving mouse revealed functionally defined layers in V1

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Record ACROSS or ALONG multiple cell layers

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Our innovative H-Series neural probes use our most advanced manufacturing technology to produce probes capable of spanning 1.4 mm without sacrificing single unit resolution or compromising tissue damage. At <80 micron wide for 64 channels on single shank, these advanced neural probes are minimally-invasive and open new horizons for trans-laminar single unit recording and high-resolution current source density analysis across multiple cell layers. Our L-series neural probes provide a similar tissue-span with lower channel-counts and wider inter-electrode spacing, from 0.7 - 3.1 mm.

Our unique H1 / H1b probe utilizing the world's smallest ultra-high-density electrode array style caters to those aiming at the smallest neurons in the brain (i.e. granule cells) or those needing to pack a lot of electrodes into a small target, such as the locus coeruleus or raphe nuclei.

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Our F-, P- and E-series silicon neural probes offer you a variety of electrode layouts tailored to optimize electrode placement along cell layers such as the hippocampal principal cell layer, the cerebellar Purkinje cell layer and so on, or within and between cortical columns. The electrodes are arranged in poly-trode grids to ensure high-resolution single unit recording and superior spike-sorting power.

RELATED LINKS

High-resolution laminar recording in the hippocampus

High-resolution laminar recording in the hippocampus

See data from an H3 probe spanning rat CA1 to dentate gyrus with 20 micron resolution.

Ultra-thin robust probes - strength through flexibility

Ultra-thin robust probes - strength through flexibility

At only 15 microns thin, our silicon neural probes minimize tissue damage and enhance chronic performance - they're also really robust (i.e. grad-student proof!).

Drew Maurer
"The signal quality of these probes with TDT Zif-Clip connectors is superb; we've been implanting them as fast as we can get our hands on them. The amount of data that becomes unusable due to noise is dramatically reduced compared to some of the other probes we've used in the past. "

Drew Maurer

Lab Head, University of Florida, USA

Brain area: Hippocampus Species: Rat

ECoG ARRAYS

High-resolution recording from the brain surface

At only 4 microns thick, our ECoG arrays readily conform to the brain surface and are straightforward to position and implant - that's 5x thinner than the nearest competitor (thickness = stiffness!). Small, low-impedance electrodes (12 or 80 micron diam. with ; impedance < 100 KOhm) ensure excellent signal-to-noise and spatial resolution whilst thru-holes, incorporated where possible, minimise the occurence of CSF-shunting between the brain and the ECoG array. Our ECoG arrays can also be combined with our penetrating silicon neural probes for true 3-D recording from within and across your region of interest.

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LARGE ANIMAL PROBES

Deep reach high-density recording for non-human primates

You can now enjoy all of the benefits of our silicon neural probe technology in large animals / deep brain structures with our new M-series probes. Designed with non-human primates in mind, our M-series probes reach up to 15 mm deep and offer the choice of high-density single unit recording with 64 sites covering 632 microns (M1 style) or 1965 microns for trans-laminar single unit recording and high-resolution current source density analysis across multiple cell layers (M2 style). Slightly thicker than our regular probes (35 microns vs. 15 microns) our M-series probes remain the most minimally-invasive large animal probes around and with super-sharpened tips, you're assured of minimal compression and smooth movement into and through the brain. Our M-series probes are available in acute form for head-fixed animals and in fully-implantable form for chronic applications.

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NEURAL PROBE ADD-ONS

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Acute Optrodes - ready-made, reusable and minimally-invasive

Acute Optrodes - ready-made, reusable and minimally-invasive

Take a closer look at our acute optrodes for single unit electrophysiology + optogenetics

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NEURAL PROBE CONNECTOR OPTIONS

Plug-n-play electrophysiology

All of our probes are available in acute and chronic forms and offer superior signal-to-noise performance and outstanding chronic single unit stability, along with seamless integration with fiber-optics and near-zero photoelectric artefacts for optogenetics + electrophysiology too!

Silicon Neural Probe Connector Options

We are plug & play with all of the mainstream headstage pre-amplifier and data-acquisition solutions on the market.

Our acute silicon neural probes are mounted on a convenient printed circuit board allowing for straightforward mounting on a micro-manipulator and with appropriate cleaning your acute silicon neural probe can be reused many times.

Our chronic silicon neural probes are built around a highly flexible cable allowing in-brain adjustment of the probe with our innovative chronic nano-Drives. We offer a range of connector solutions using Omnetics, Molex and TDT ZIF-Clip connectors to enable highly-scalable, multi-probe implants in even the smallest of freely-behaving animals.

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BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES

Why you should use our next-generation silicon neural probe technology...

Our silicon neural probes offer exceptional performance for both acute and chronic experiments, encompassing:

  • Superior chronic stability - unrivalled in vivo longevity - record the neurons you want across many days to weeks in freely behaving animals.
  • Optogenetics-safe - the only silicon neural probes on the market with minimized sensitivity to photo-electric artefacts making them the optimal choice for single unit recording + optogenetics.
  • Best-in-class signal to noise ratio - stabilized microelectrodes with typical 50 kOhm impedance; ~2x - 10x better than the competition!
  • Microdrive compatible - designed to fit our chronic nano-Drives with guaranteed alignment with drive-axis and convenient co-alignment with optrodes and fluidic cannulae.
  • Ultra-thin, robust and with sharpened-tips for dura-penetration - 15 micron thin silicon neural probes with minimal footprint yet still able to withstand considerable stress without breaking; super sharp tips capable of penetrating rodent dura.
  • Long-term reusable - acute probes and optrodes offering multiple re-uses across many months.
  • Proven technology - our silicon neural probes are used in everything from mice to monkeys - read a recent Nature paper using our probes.

RELATED LINKS

We're in Nature... again!

We're in Nature... again!

October, 2018 - Our high-resolution H2 probes make their way in to the cerebellar nuclei alongside photostimulation to uncover a novel motor-planning circuit.

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Sara Aton
"My students and I unanimously prefer these probes over various others that we have tried. The signal to noise ratio is excellent, and the design is sturdy and robust. For acute recordings, these are the best-engineered and most user-friendly probes I've worked with."

Sara Aton

Lab Head, University of Michigan, USA

Brain area: Hippocampus Species: Mice


'How-to' chronic nano-Drives + probes + fiber optics

'How-to' chronic nano-Drives + probes + fiber optics

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We let our data speak for itself!

We let our data speak for itself!

Judge for yourself how good our signal to noise performance is in this short video of live data from a 32 channel probe in a freely behaving rat.

Download our Catalog

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