The Open Ephys headstage uses an Intan amplifier chip to filter, amplify, and multiplex 32 channels of neural data. An analog-to-digital converter inside the chip digitizes each signal with 16-bit resolution. Instead of one wire per channel, as is required for analog headstages, our headstage can send 32 channels over a cable with only 12 wires. And the signal is purely digital, so there are no tether artifacts.

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The Open Ephys acquisition board provides a convenient USB interface between up to four headstages and a computer. It features 8 channels of digital input, and 8 channels of digital output, to trigger optogenetic stimulation or behavioral feedback.

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Need to sync your neural data with external triggers? Use this board to connect up to 8 digital inputs to the acquisition board. Since its internal components are completely passive, the I/O board can be also be used to relay digital outputs and analog inputs.

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If your research revolves around tetrode and stereotrode recordings as much as ours does, you've spent a lot of time twisting wires together. Twisted-wire electrodes offer unparalleled single-unit isolation, at the expense of being labor-intensive to produce. Great recordings depend on well-constructed tetrodes, but there's currently no commercial source for the finished product. We created an affordable, easy-to-assemble tetrode twister in order to speed up the tetrode-making process.

Cost of raw materials: $223.96

Approximate build time: 2 hours

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The Open Ephys GUI is the missing link in systems neuroscience research. Its goal is to make the process of setting up an experiment easy for anyone, the first time they try. We currently put way too much effort into programming protocols, cajoling various devices to cooperate, and hacking together tools that get used once, and never again. The GUI is a step toward creating an integrated, user-friendly software interface for combining extracellular electrophysiology with environmental stimuli, electrical stimulation, and optogenetic perturbations.

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Read the GUI wiki.

The flexDrive is a chronic drive implant for extracellular electrophysiology that can be used to individually position up to 16 microwire electrodes or electrode bundles in mice, with up to 64 channels. The implant weighs approximately 2 grams, is easy to build, and accommodates arbitrary spatial arrangements of electrodes.

Approximate build time: 1-2 days after training

Cost of raw materials: about $1000-2000 for materials for about 25 drives.

Get the documentation and building instructions on the website 

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