STEREOTAXIC INSTRUMENT WITH LINEAR COORDINATE SCALES COUPLED TO SPLIT-IMAGE MICROSCOPIC IMAGE DISPLAY SYSTEM

摘要

A stereotaxic instrument is coupled to a split-screen imaging system to provide a split-screen image of the skull of the brain research subject animal along with an image of the X, Y and Z coordinates of the electrode tip (or other tool tip) being used. In addition, a third split-screen image of a recording graph displaying electrical activity recorded by an electrode may be shown. The imaging system may be a microscope/computer system or digital camera/computer system. The split-screen images may be displayed on a computer monitor or in a microscope. The system can be utilized with motor driven shift mechanisms or with manual shift mechanisms. The system allows experiments to be conducted with the subject enclosed within a Faraday cage. Remote and automatic cell searching experiments may be conducted as well.