Did you have the chance to look at our video demonstrating our prototype of relay station?

Behavioral experiments with rat models of depression featuring both implantable focused ultrasound neurostimulation and electrical recording devices, ideally require light and compact electronics that can simultaneously control the implantable devices and relay information to and from a computer for the proper control of the experiments and data analysis. We have conceived such electronic relay station as a miniaturized electronics board that is worn by the rat as a backpack. The relay station was designed with all the necessary electronics for powering, control and interface with ultrasound and electrical brain interfaces. This report describes its implementation and experimental validation, including a demonstration video describing the full system and showcasing a few test cases. This relay station electronics sets the stage for future behavioral experiments with freely moving rats, where neuroscientists can easily change the stimulation location in real-time by setting the desired stimulation coordinates for the focused ultrasound chip, and obtain the changes in brain activity in real-time, via a user-friendly software in a computer.