Plexon is now selling electrodes!

With the addition of the Plextrode series of electrodes, Plexon now offers everything from electrodes through data acquisition and analysis. Plextrodes are available in stainless steel, platinum/iridium, pure iridium, and tungsten.

The Plextrode series of electrodes is backed by the same high level of support as any other Plexon product.

Any order of ten or more electrodes will receive a 10% discount. Contact Plexon at 214-369-4957 or send an email to info@plexoninc.com for more information.

The following types of electrodes are available:

Floating Microelectrode Arrays

• For long-term chronic recording
• User defined electrode length (to 10 mm), inter-electrode spacing, impedance (10 kΩ to 2.5 MΩ), and number of electrodes (up to 36)
• Helical spring tether eliminates stress forces and keeps the array buoyant on the brain
• Available in stainless steel, platinum/iridium, tungsten, and pure iridium for activation and long-term stimulation

Microwire Arrays

• Custom array configurations (3x3, 4x4, 4x8, etc.) available for single electrodes, stereotrodes, and tetrodes
• Available in 25 micron and 50 micron diameter stainless steel, platinum/iridium, and tungsten wire
• Polyethylene Glycol (carbo wax) molds to fix electrode positions - can be melted away with application of saline solution

Microelectrode Arrays

• Four different tip profiles available
• User defined impedances  
• Custom array configurations available
• Staggered inter-electrode lengths available
• Available in stainless steel, platinum/iridium, tungsten, and pure iridium for activation and long-term stimulation

Individual Metal Microelectrodes and Stereotrodes

• Four different tip profiles available
• User defined impedances
• Available in stainless steel, platinum/iridium, tungsten, and pure iridium for activation and long-term stimulation

In the first quarter of 2007 we launched our new site.

One new component in the technical support section of the the web site is our technical documentation search engine and database This database contains valuable engineering information such as hardware circuit diagrams, connector pin-out information, jumper configuration settings, and many other valuable technical documents.

This database is growing daily as we add new documents.

http://www.plexoninc.com/support/cms.html

Below are answers to some commonly asked questions received by our Tech Support Department. You may submit a question to our growing FAQ list here.

[Q] My HST/16V has a pin for a reference electrode, but my preamp doesn't seem to be using it as a reference.
[A] 16V or 32V headstages can use either a reference electrode, or a buffered ground. Configuring your preamp to utilize either is usually a matter of setting a few jumper pins correctly. The PBX2 line of preamps has these jumpers on the preamp board itself, and the PBX line has the jumpers on the header board where the headstage cable plugs in. For more information, go to the document search at www.plexoninc.com/support/cms.html, and type in VLSI referencing in the keyword search.

[Q] I want to get a TTL pulse whenever a sorted unit crosses threshold, what are my options?
[A] There are two ways to do this. The first way is quick and easy, but limited. On the TIM board is a BNC plug called EVT. This will output a TTL pulse on a threshold crossing of the currently selected unit in SortClient. Obviously, this is limited because it’s only going to be for the one unit you have selected. The second way involves the Digital Out (DOUT) sub board on the DSP boards. Each DOUT can give a pulse for eight channels for two units per channel. The channel numbers it can output depend on where the DOUT is physically located. Top most slot is channels 1-8, next one down is 9-16, and so on. If you want to add DOUT boards to your MAP system, contact Plexon for a quote.

[Q] I’d like to use a video of SortClient running on my computer for a presentation; how can I do this?
[A] I recommend using something like CamStudio (http://www.camstudio.org/), or any other open source, low computational overhead desktop capture program.

[Q]What is the difference between the PBX and PBX2 line of preamps?

[A] PBX preamps have 1-pole filtering on both the upper and lower bandpass. PBX2 preamps have 2-pole filtering on the low-cutoff (high-pass) side, and 4-pole filtering on the high-cutoff (low-pass) side. Only the PBX preamp has the programmable referencing option, as controlled by the REF2 software. This is identified by the “-r” in the preamp description, such as PBX/32sp-r/16fp. The “-r” at the end of the spike board description means that programmable referencing is available on the spike boards.

[Q]What does the “SPK” BNC plug on the DSP board do?

[A] The BNC connector labeled “SPK” outputs the spike signal from the channel selected in SortClient’s multi-channel display. This is useful for viewing the spike channel in an oscilloscope, or hearing the output on a speaker.

[Q]What does the –TR or –GR suffix to my headstage description mean?

[A] TR stands for True Reference, and GR stands for Ground Reference. The difference is that a TR headstage uses a dedicated electrode as the signal reference, and a GR uses the common ground from the preamp. Some people use TR to get rid of stimulation or movement artifacts. The reference electrode will pick up the same artifact that the other electrodes will get, and this will be subtracted out in the blue preamp box.

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