NEUROPIXELS UHD

Neuropixels UHD (ultra high density) is a boutique project to investigate the impact of small dense sites on spike sorting, cell type identification and recording efficiency for very small cells. Initially the fabrication is sponsored for a limit probe count by UCL-Carandini Lab, Allen Institute for Brain Science, and HHMI Janelia Research Campus.  Probes will be made in 2 geometries both with 5x5 um sites on 6x6 um centers.  The first, a non-programmable probe, has a site array of 8x48 sites at the distal end of a 10 mm shank. The very first of these probes is now being tested. The second geometry is 816 rows of 8 sites each, for a total site count of 6528, covering 4.9 mm of the 10 mm shanks, programmable in groups of 16. The first programmable geometries will deliver in Q3 2021. A follow-on grant to Nick Steinmetz, U. Washington, Shawn Olsen, AIBS, and Tim Harris, Johns Hopkins BME, funded by the NIH BRAIN Initiative, 1U01NS113252-01, will fabricate a second generation and test function. Commercial release is not planned.