Welcome to New Scale News - LAB AUTOMATION edition - featuring micro motion systems and applications in medical and biomedical research. 

This month we focus on what's new with the Multi-Probe Micromanipulator for neural recording with high-density silicon probes.
   

"The latest silicon probes are packing even more sites onto ever thinner shanks, resulting in more well-isolated units in the vicinity of the probe. However, in order to measure interactions among neurons distributed throughout the brain, multiple probes must be inserted simultaneously. 

"In collaboration with Josh Siegle, a Scientist at the Allen Institute and one of the co-founders of Open Ephys, New Scale Technologies has created the first insertion system designed specifically for acute experiments with silicon probes. Their Multi-Probe Manipulator (MPM) uses their tiny 3-axis motorized stages to align up to 5 probes will sub-micron precision. Four manual degrees of freedom facilitate coarse adjustments, and can be used to move the probes safely away between experiments. 

"If you're looking to scale up your silicon probe recordings, New Scale may have the optimal solution."

Read the Open Ephys newsletter here. 

The probe mount is easily installed on the MPM system using one captive screw. It allows researchers to rotate the silicon probe and electronics to any angle in the probe mount. Its slim design allows close spacing of adjacent probes. 

New Scale developed the probe mount to meet the needs of leading electrophysiology researchers using the NeuroNexus high-density microelectrode array.

Contact New Scale for information about an MPM probe mount for your silicon probe.

The MPM System provides 6 mm of XYZ motorized probe movement. In practice this means that the probe tip must be "pre-positioned" within ~1 mm of the target insertion point in the brain. 

The MPM-4 DOF ARM provides four manual axes of adjustment to pre-position the probe tip. A steel reference probe replaces the silicon probe during pre-positioning to enable precise, low-risk calibration of the desired starting position.

This repeatable starting point reduces setup time, minimizes the risk of damage to the silicon probes during setup, and maximizes data collection time.

A new Tech Note describes the pre-positioning system used in conjunction with the MPM Probe Mount-2 for the NeuroNexus A32 probe with OM32 adapter.

New Scale is pleased to announce three new distributors for the Multi-probe Micromanipulator System.