Scanbox allows patterned photostimulation using a dual galvo pathway. After installation of the module he first step is to calibrate the system as follows: During installation of the galvo-galvo stimulation module, we will determine the ETL setting required to bring into alignment the 2p imaging plane and the focal plane of stimulation. This is done…
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A depth stabilization plugin
Some experiments require long imaging times. In cases where we are recording from small structures, such as dendritic processes or spines, any slow drift in the depth of the imaging plane would affect the quality of the data. Here is a Scanbox plugin that will: (a) perform a quick z-stack around the desired imaging plane,…
Read MoreUsing USB3 cameras with Scanbox
Scanbox has long supported the use of GigE cameras for behavior, but integrating USB3 cameras which support an external trigger is also possible. As an example, consider the Mako-U series. Wire up the camera To use one of these cameras you have to be using a trigger cable. Different manufacturers offer cables that differ in…
Read MoreOnline, pixel-wise image processing with a Scanbox plugin
Sometimes you need your results right away. One example is when subsequent experiments are tailored to the properties of neurons in the population at hand. Here is a simple Scanbox plugin that computes an orientation map preference on a pixel-by-pixel basis as the data are collected. The variable mmfile.Data.header(4) indicates if a stimulus is being…
Read MoreImproved adjustment of ROIs location, laser power and depth in the mesoscope
We have made some recent improvements to the mesoscope GUI (thanks to Zaneta Navratilova and Dhruba Banerjee from Bruce McNaughton Lab at UCI for the feedback). The new interface allows users to: Quickly create a wide-field panorama Define ROIs and their locations Adjust the depth (ETL setting) and laser power for each ROI. Save/Load previously…
Read MoreUsing Suite2p with Scanbox
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. …
Read MoreOptogenetics 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 MoreUsing an auxiliary USB DAQ to sample TTL events
We have added an option to sample an additional 8 TTL inputs from Scanbox using an external NI DAQ device. In our case, we have used and tested the NI USB-6221, but any other devices which support sampled, digital IO should work as well. The configuration file now contains four lines that specifies the parameters…
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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