Main Page
Welcome to Miniscope.org Wiki!
Our miniature fluorescence microscope uses wide-field fluorescence imaging to record neural activity in awake, freely moving mice. Our microscope has a mass of around 3 grams and uses only a single, flexible coaxial cable (0.3mm to 1.5mm diameter) to carry power, control signals, and imaging data. Mark Schnitzer's Lab at Standford pioneered this microscopy approach, publishing a paper in Nature Methods in 2011. The goal of this wiki site is to provide a centralized location for design files, source code, and other relevant information to help disseminate this technology to the larger neuroscience community. While our system is not an off-the-shelf commercial solution, we have focused on making it as easy as possible for a standard neuroscience lab to build and modify, requiring minimal soldering and hands on assembly. For more information please visit our Project Overview page. The Miniscope project and miniscope.org are still works in progress and will be routinely updated over the coming months and years.
Contents
Current Status of Project
The Miniscope project is now in its third year of development at UCLA and has gone through two major revisions. The work and files available on this site are the most up-to-date public version of our system and will be updated frequently with improvements and new system features.
Initial access to the miniscope.org wiki was enabled mid January, 2016.
Important: Using this system we have successfully imaged Hippocampal CA1, Subiculum, and Visual Cortex using 1.8mm and 2mm diameter GRIN lenses from Grintech. While thinner GRIN lenses should theoretically be compatible with our system we have limited our initial development to larger lenses due to supply and experimental constraints. We are now actively testing thinner lenses as well as pursuing multiple avenues of GRIN lens production (More information on GRIN lenses can be found here).
Links to information on miniscope subsystems
Discussion Board and FAQ
Guides and Tutorials
We designed our miniscope system to be easy to build and use. The guides below will walk you through component procurement, scope assembly, and software installation.
- Overview of System Components
- Part Procurement
- System Assembly
- Recommended Computer Specs
- Software and Firmware Setup
- Surgery Protocol
- Animal Behavior Guide
Once you have built your system. This tutorial will explain how to use the different features of the scope.
Update Log
- 01/13/2016
- Added basic surgery outline
- 01/13/2016
- Added a picture guide for scope and Baseplate assembly
- 01/12/2016
- Finalizing of Miniscope Master Parts List
- 01/10/2016
- Upload of current version of all files and documents to Github
- 01/09/2016
- Added guide to programming firmware to DAQ PCB
