Monthly archives: November, 2010

Nov242010November 24, 2010November 24, 20101Commentby L.

Igor Pro and Electrophysiology

Posted in Software

Igor Pro is a data analysis environment specialized for 1D time series data. It has some nice features: it handles data scaling beautifully, it has good built-in help, it…

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Nov232010November 23, 2010November 21, 20102Commentsby L.

Laser safety

Posted in Tips

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Nov222010November 22, 2010November 21, 20101Commentby L.

Ponoko starts 3D printing

Posted in Tips

Ponoko is a laser cutting service that recently started offering 3D printing. Their 3D services is similar to what Shapeways offers. It’s nice to see a pair of high quality…

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Nov212010November 21, 2010November 21, 20100Commentby L.

Raw materials

Posted in Tips

If you need a chunk of metal for a custom piece for your rig, what are the options? The best way to go is to buy a part that is close to what you need and…

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Nov202010November 20, 2010November 20, 20101Commentby L.

Thorlabs scope building blocks

Posted in Hardware

At the SfN meeting in San Diego this year, I met Jeff Brooker from Thorlabs. Jeff and his team of about 17 people have a history of working together in industry on photonics. They have designed…

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Nov092010November 9, 2010November 9, 20100Commentby L.

Software for custom 2p scopes

Posted in Software

If you build your own two photon scope, you’ll need software. I mainly use the MATLAB-based ScanImage. Vijay Iyer (Janelia Farm) has really made it a slick, stable program. It cosmetically resembles Tom Pologruto’s…

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Nov072010November 7, 2010November 8, 20104Commentsby L.

Fiber optic termination

Posted in Tips

Fiber optics must be terminated properly in order to permit high transmission. If you’re making your own, get a proper fiber cleaver and a set of polishing sheets. Here are a few…

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Nov062010November 6, 2010November 6, 20102Commentsby L.

sCMOS vs. EMCCD

Posted in Hardware

In the last post, commenter Christophe asked about sCMOS cameras. He was interested in higher light level applications, but for the sake of comparison, here’s a picture of their low light performance, compared to an interline CCD and a back-illuminated EMCCD (pdf).

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Nov062010November 6, 2010November 6, 20105Commentsby L.

Cameras for ultra low light levels

Posted in Hardware

Many image sensors are built backwards, just like the retina. The actual photon detectors are buried behind a mesh of circuitry. Back-illuminated sensors, where the detectors are put in front,…

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