The acquisition board is the heart of the neural data acquisition system. It provides a convenient USB interface between up to eight headstages and a computer. It also allows you to connect with I/O boards, each of which can provide up to 8 channels of digital input or output. You could use these additional channels to measure other, non-neural signals, or to trigger optogenetic stimulation or behavioral feedback.Option 1: If you build one yourself, we estimate you'll spend about 2-3 days of work and about $1000. This includes the cost of the FPGA, the most expensive component. Follow the instructions here to build your own board and then continue to the User Guide. Option 2: You can order the assembled board from CircuitHub, for about $2200 (as of October 2014). You also need to purchase an FPGA (~$400) and a case. After purchasing the board and FPGA, continue to the User Guide. Option 3: Order a complete board from the Open Ephys store (coming late 2014).
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A complete data acquisition system consists of the following components:
- An acquisition board, which you can either order or build (see below). In either case, you'll need to provide your own FPGA and case.
- At least one Intan RHD-series headstage, which you can order directly from Intan. Each headstage can handle 32 channels of neural input. You can connect up to 4 headstages to each acquisition board. We recommend part #C3324 (32 channels with accelerometer), but any of the "RHD" headstages will work with our board.
- One SPI cable to connect each headstage to the acquistion board, which you can order from Intan or build yourself. We recommend the "Ultra-Thin" variety for freely-moving applications.
- (Optional) At least one I/O board for other (non-neural) signals, which you can build yourself. Each I/O board has 8 channels and can be used for one of the following at a time: digital input, digital output, analog input, or analog output.
- (Optional) One HDMI cable to connect each I/O board to the acquisition board.
- A computer to run the software and interface with the rest of the system.
How to obtain an acquisition board
Regardless of which option you take, you'll also need to build or purchase your own headstages, I/O boards, and cables, as described above.