The Hybrid Drive

A chronic implant device combining tetrode arrays with silicon probes for layer-resolved ensemble physiology

This repository contains the following:

• Parts: A list of parts needed to build the drive. Including flexDrive git repositories for the drive body and the screw-spring mechanism.
• Building instructions: a step-by-step guide on how to build the drive.
• Implant instructions: a quick guide on how to implant the Hybrid drive.
• Array design: a repository with all tested implant designs.
• Videos and images: A collection of images and videos of the hybrid drive, before and after the implant procedure.

News

• 06/06/2022 The Hybrid Drive paper has been published on the Journal of Neural Engineering 📄
• 22/04/2022 The Hybrid Drive is featured on the Open Ephys Wiki 🛠
• 14/04/2022 Our manuscript is accepted in the Journal of Neural Engineering 🎉
• 20/08/2021 The Hybrid Drive preprint is out on biorxiv 💡

Step-by-step building instructions

1. Parts list

2. Building instructions

3. Implant procedure

Scientific aproach

Many brain areas, including the cortex and the hippocampus, are organized in local circuits and laminar structures with information processing within and across layers. Simultaneously measuring neural activity across these two dimensions, while an animal is freely interacting with its environment, remains a key challenge in modern neuroscience. We aim to tackle this challenge with the Hybrid Drive, combining in a single device the flexibility of tetrode arrays with the spatial coverage of silicon probes. This microdrive enables novel insights on the relation between layer-specific and across-layer neural activity, with high spatial and temporal precision, in freely moving mice.

Contribute

Different area-specific arrays can be found in the array_design folder. Please create a pull request to contribute new or improved designs.

The silicon probes and the EIB desgin can be adapted as well, according to experimental demands. We actively collaborate with ATLAS Neuro to develop new designs. For further information, feel free to contact me at [email protected]

References

@Article{Guardamagna2022,
  author    = {Guardamagna, Matteo and Eichler, Ronny and Pedrosa, Rafael and Aarts, Arno and Meyer, Arne F. and Battaglia, Francesco P.},
  title     = {The Hybrid Drive: a chronic implant device combining tetrode arrays with silicon probes for layer-resolved ensemble electrophysiology in freely moving mice},
  journal   = {Journal of Neural Engineering},
  DOI       = {https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-2552/ac6771},
  year      = {2022}
}