Light-weight Electrophysiology Hardware and Software Platform for Cloud-Based Neural Recording Experiments

Voituik, K.; Geng, J.; Keefe, M. G.; Parks, D. F.; Sanso, S. E.; Hawthorne, N.; Freeman, D. B.; Nowakowski, T. J.; Salama, S. R.; Teodorescu, M.; Haussler, D.

doi:10.1101/2021.05.18.444685

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.05.18.444685

Light-weight Electrophysiology Hardware and Software Platform for Cloud-Based Neural Recording Experiments

Voituik, K.·Geng, J.·Keefe, M. G.·Parks, D. F.·Sanso, S. E.·Hawthorne, N.·Freeman, D. B.·Nowakowski, T. J.·Salama, S. R.·Teodorescu, M.·Haussler, D.

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Abstract

ObjectiveNeural activity represents a functional readout of neurons that is increasingly important to monitor in a wide range of experiments. Extracellular recordings have emerged as a powerful technique for measuring neural activity because these methods do not lead to the destruction or degradation of the cells being measured. Current approaches to electrophysiology have a low throughput of experiments due to manual supervision and expensive equipment. This bottleneck limits broader inferences that can be achieved with numerous long-term recorded samples. ApproachWe developed Piphys, an inexpensive open source neurophysiological recording platform that consists both hardware and software. It is easily accessed and controlled via a standard web interface through Internet of Things (IoT) protocols. Main ResultsWe used a Raspberry Pi as the primary processing device and Intan bioamplifier. We designed a hardware expansion circuit board and software to enable voltage sampling and user interaction. This standalone system was validated with primary human neurons, showing reliability in collecting real-time neural activity. SignificanceThe hardware modules and cloud software allow for remote control of neural recording experiments as well as horizontal scalability, enabling long-term observations of development, organization, and neural activity at scale.

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Voituik, K., Geng, J., Keefe, M. G., Parks, D. F., Sanso, S. E., Hawthorne, N., Freeman, D. B., Nowakowski, T. J., Salama, S. R., Teodorescu, M., Haussler, D.. 2021-05-20. Light-weight Electrophysiology Hardware and Software Platform for Cloud-Based Neural Recording Experiments. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.18.444685

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