Product Development News
D187 Advanced Remote Electrode Selector – Available Soon
The D188 and D189 Remote Electrode Selectors have proved immensely popular in many labs, specifically those where researchers need to safely direct an isolated high voltage electrical stimulus to different electrode sites on a human subject. With switching times of a few milliseconds, the D188 and D189 can be used for complex stimulation applications involving multi-location stimulation, such as studies of pain, cognitive behaviour, rehabilitation or sensory perception.
The D187 Advanced Remote Electrode Selector expands on the capabilities of the D188/D189, but rather than being limited to a maximum of 8 discrete anode/cathode pairs, the D187 allows the user to arbitrarily define the connection state and polarity of up to 16 individual output sockets, providing over 43 million possible configurations! This flexibility means that any combination of the 16 outputs can carry a stimulus, for instance permitting a researcher to choose a single cathode stimulating electrode, but select multiple “return” anodes.
As with the D188, the D187 accepts brief electrical pulses of up to 1A and 400V, so is suitable for high current/voltage demands in human research applications. However, because the solid state relays used in the D187 can exhibit a voltage drop of up to 2.5V, it is not recommended for use with constant voltage stimulators, especially those with a low output voltage. Note that the voltage drop is insignificant when the D188 is used with high voltage constant current stimulus sources, such as our DS7A/AH, DS7R or DS8R stimulators. As a result, the D187 is not recommended for applications where precise voltage delivery is a prerequisite.
Different connection states are pre-defined within our GUI software or via an imported CSV file. Switching between states is under the control of the rear panel digital inputs, which are mapped to the various configurations required. Third party software/DAQ hardware can then sychronize D187 configuration changes with the delivery of electrical stimuli.
Manual or Digital Control Options
The D187 is supplied with GUI Control Panel software compatible with Windows 10 and higher, which permits Internal (manual) or External (digital) control of each output socket state between (i) disconnected (ii) +ve polarity or (iii) -ve polarity. Internal mode allows the output state to be determined by mouse-clicking a graphical representation of the D187 front panel. In External mode, the state of the outputs is determined by the status of the 8 rear panel digital inputs.
When a D187 output socket is set to a particular polarity, it becomes electrically connected to any other output sockets sharing that polarity, as well as the associated input socket i.e. the stimulator anode (red) or cathode (blue) connection.
Individual Polarity Control for All Output Sockets
As each of the 16 output sockets can be set to three possible states, there are over 43 million potential configurations. Output configurations required for a particular protocol may determined via our graphical user interface and numerically stored/identified within the D187 as decimal, binary or hexadecimal values. Previously defined configurations may then be recalled via changes in the state of the 8 digital inputs.
For convenience, the D187 Control Panel software also allows users to export and import CSV files containing protocol specific configuration information, meaning the D187 can be rapidly reconfigured for different users and their experiments.
Interested in learning more or trialling the D187?
The D187 is currently in development, however, if you have any interest in trialling one of our limited number of prototypes or have any further questions about its suitability for your own research, please get in touch with us.
