Tetrode arrays are a standard method for neuronal recordings in behaving animals, especially for chronic recordings of many neurons in freely-moving animals. Objective. We sought to simplify tetrode drive designs with the aim of enabling building and implanting a 16-tetrode drive in a single day. Approach. Our design makes use of recently developed technologies to reduce the complexity of the drive while maintaining a low weight. Main results. The design presents an improvement over existing implants in terms of robustness, weight, and ease of use. We describe two variants: a 16 tetrode implant weighing ∼2 g for mice, bats, tree shrews and similar animals, and a 64 tetrode implant weighing ∼16 g for rats and similar animals. These designs were co-developed and optimized alongside a new class of drive-mounted feature-rich amplifier boards with ultra-thin radio-frequency tethers, as described in an upcoming paper (Newman, Zhang et al in prep). Significance. This design significantly improves the data yield of chronic electrophysiology experiments.

Tetrode 阵列是行为动物中神经元记录的标准方法，特别是对于自由移动动物中许多神经元的慢性记录。客观的。我们试图简化四极驱动设计，目的是在一天内构建和植入 16 个四极驱动。方法。我们的设计利用最近开发的技术来降低驱动器的复杂性，同时保持低重量。主要结果。该设计在坚固性、重量和易用性方面对现有植入物进行了改进。我们描述了两种变体：用于小鼠、蝙蝠、树鼩和类似动物的 16 tetrode 植入物，重 ∼2 g，以及用于大鼠和类似动物的 64 tetrode 植入物，重 ∼16 g。正如即将发表的一篇论文（Newman、Zhang 等人在准备中）中所述，这些设计是与一类具有超薄射频系绳的新型驱动安装、功能丰富的放大器板共同开发和优化的。意义。这种设计显着提高了慢性电生理实验的数据产量。