systemDrive

This multi-axis microdrive concept was described in the publication: The systemDrive: a Multi-Site, Multi-Region Microdrive with Independent Drive Axis Angling for Chronic Multi-Modal Systems Neuroscience Recordings in Freely-Behaving Animals Myles W. Billard, Fatemeh Bahari, John Kimbugwe, Kevin D. Alloway and Bruce J. Gluckman eNeuro 19 December 2018, ENEURO.0261-18.2018; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0261-18.2018 A multi-electrode system that can address widely-separated targets at multiple sites across multiple brain regions with independent implant angling is needed to investigate neural function and signaling in systems and circuits of small animals. Here we present current build files and instructions for our current revision of the systemDrive: a novel multi-site, multi- region microdrive that is capable of moving microwire electrode bundles into targets along independent and non-parallel drive trajectories. Our design decouples the stereotaxic surgical placement of individual guide cannulas for each trajectory from the placement of a flexible drive structure. This separation enables placement of many microwire multitrodes along widely-spaced and independent drive axes with user-set electrode trajectories and depths from a single microdrive body, and achieves stereotaxic precision with each. The system leverages tight tube-cannula tolerances and geometric constraints on flexible drive axes to ensure concentric alignment of electrode bundles within guide cannulas. Additionally, the headmount and microdrive both have an open-center design to allow for the placement of additional sensing modalities. This design is the first, in the context of small rodent chronic research, to provide the capability to finely position microwires through multiple widely distributed cell groups, each with stereotaxic precision, along arbitrary and non-parallel trajectories that are not restricted to emanate from a single source.