Marius Pachitariu and Carsen Stringer released a Python version of their Suite2p pipeline for two-photon imaging. So I decided to take this tool for a test drive with data collected from Scanbox. At the moment, Suite2p takes tiff and hdf5 files, so we first decided to write a function to convert *.sbx to *.h5 files. …
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Optogenetics with Scanbox
The latest version of Scanbox includes a panel to allow uses to perform 1p optogenetics with 2p imaging. The panel provides an interface to the ThorLabs DC2200 dual channel controller, but can also be used with the simpler T-cube driver. You can use the LED of your preference. We have been working both with mounted…
Read MoreNetwork Commands
The basics of how to control the microscope over the network have been described here. Over time, a number of other commands have been added to facilitate the control of Scanbox remotely. Here is an up-to-date list of network commands. If there are others you need just let us know. File storage: A<string> Set animal…
Read MoreSupport for Phenosys Speedbelt Linear Treadmill
Scanbox now provides a direct interface to Phenosys’ speedbelt. Once the speedbelt is connected via the USB to the computer it will show up as a COM port on the Device Manager. To acquire input from the treadmill, simply define the speedbelt_com configuration variable specifying the corresponding COM port. Within the Scanbox “Treadmill and Encoder”…
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Motor box update
We are asking all Scanbox users to update to the latest version of Scanbox which incorporates important updates to the motor box code, including: Update of the Trinamic firmware Update of the motor box application code Update of the motor box interface code in Scanbox Please proceed as follows: If you don’t have the Trinamic…
Read MoreHappy Holidays from Scanbox
Happy holidays to all Scanbox users! This was a very productive year. We introduced a number of new features including: Introduction of Virtual Knobby Introduction of Knobby 2.0 Introduction of Knobby Scheduler Support for TTL start/stop acquisition mode Enhancements to alignment and segmentation tools Introduction of the plugin server Introduced spatial calibration and return to origin…
Read MoreAutomatic Pockels Linearization
Some time ago, we described a procedure to manually create a look up table for the laser power slider to achieve linear power. Now, if you have a Thorlabs’ PM100D meter your job has been made much easier, as Scanbox can perform the calibration automatically. As a first step, you will need download and install the…
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Mesoscope features: real-time panoramas, ROI selection, zoom/pan, and dynamic ROIs
Here are some of the features we have been developing to make it easy to build panoramas, pick regions-of-interest, and to visualize ROI location and data during acquisition using the NLW Mesoscope (aka the Kraken) on the latest version of Scanbox. The video below shows a brief demo of the following: The automatic creation of…
Read MoreFinding the optimal sample clock phase
Some time ago we talked about the advantages of synchronizing the digitizer sample clock to the laser. Our new system incorporates an on-board PLL multi-phase clock that allows Scanbox to automatically measure the contrast in a test image as a function of sample phase delay and select the optimal value for your setup. A typical measurement…
Read MoreUsing the correct range and bias for PMT amplifiers
Update[6/1/2018]: Please update Scanbox to make this feature work correctly. An error in the code of earlier versions incorrectly set the gain for fixed-type amplifiers (variable type amplifiers were handled correctly). An alternative, easy way to fix the issue without having to update Scanbox is to search for the constant INPUT_RANGE_PM_1V in scanbox.m and replace…
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