NEUROPIXELS 2.0
ABOUT
Neuropixels 2.0 is currently undergoing a pre-production engineering prototype ramp up. This process allows optimization of the fabrication, assembly, and testing processes. Neuropixels 2.0 4-shank probe shanks are 10 mm long, 70 um wide, and 24 um thick with a pitch between shanks of 250 um; the edge-to-edge span of the shanks is 820 um. Each shank has 1280 addressable sites in 26 groups of 48 sites. Geometry and dimension details can be seen in the brochure on page 1 of this tab. We expect these devices to be available for sale in early Q2 2022 in both single shank and 4 shank versions.
FENS2020 Posters
FENS2020 2555 - Neuropixels 2.0: A high-density silicon probe optimized for stable, long-term recordings
Speaker(s) Nicholas A. Steinmetz, Seattle, United States of America
DESCRIPTION
The motivation for Neuropixels 2.0 were 2: smaller size and 4 shank geometry. Specifications can be seen in the brochure. The base area is 1/3 the size of Neuropixels 1.0 and the head stage about half the area, while interfacing with 2 rather than 1 probe. Two probes plus the head stage weigh ~1.1 grams. Site geometry has been modified. Sites are now spaced on 15 um centers (compared to 20 um centers for Neuropixels 2.0), and oriented in a linear geometry compared to the tetrode geometry of Neuropixels 1.0. The four shank version has 1280 sites/shank (5120 sites/probe) while keeping the 384 channels at a time capacity of the original Neuropixels.
Since this is a manufacturing development process, quantities are limited and costs are far above those expected for the final product. Preliminary publications of probe behavior are emerging, including 3 posters at the FENS2020 virtual meeting, and a pending publication.