Optic Delivery System

Optic Delivery System

Chickenscratch drawing of optic delivery system

Here is a drawing of an optic delivery system used from in Vivo stimulation (an in Vitro system would remove the sleeve and optic cannula). Generally, light flows from a light source connected to a patch cord, then a sleeve, then an optic cannula. Detailed components are shown, and this even hints at fabrication techniques.

LightDeliverySystemComponents

Jove has a great video showing how to fabricate your own custom fiber optics for use in optogenetics. This might be behind a paywall. Ung, K., Arenkiel, B. R. Fiber-optic Implantation for Chronic Optogenetic Stimulation of Brain Tissue. J. Vis. Exp. (68), e50004, doi:10.3791/50004 (2012).

The picture given above includes an optional strain relief system that the ONE Core designed. This is beyond the fabrication techniques listed above (from Jove), and is a strain relief system for the patch cord. LightDeliverySystemComponents LightDeliverySystemComponents

Parts: Cole Parmer 1/16” ID tubing (95680-00), Cole Parmer 1/16” t-connectors (06365-77)

  • Prepare end of fiber optic cord
    • Use micro strippers to trim off slightly less than 2cm of cladding off of fiber optic. Don’t take it off all at once, take it off a few millimeters at a time to avoid jamming
  • Trim T-Barb connection off of center cube (preferably using razor blade)
  • Insert wider ferrule end into wider side of T-Barb connector.
  • Thread shrink wrap, tubing, and t-barb/ferrule onto fiber optic
  • Mix epoxy and apply to connection
    • You want to get the epoxy inside of the t-barb connector.
    • Try to get a small amount of epoxy on the shaft of the fiber optic sticking out of the ferrule, and move the ferrule back and forth to get the epoxy inside it.
  • Apply epoxy to outside of t-barb connector, and then slide tubing over it
  • Let sit for 5+ minutes
  • Slide shrink wrap halfway over tubing, then quickly pass it through the heat gun a number of times until it grips the tubing tightly (it will not grip the optical cord jacket tightly)

ONE Core acknowledgement

Please acknowledge the ONE Core facility in your publications. An appropriate wording would be:

“The Optogenetics and Neural Engineering (ONE) Core at the University of Colorado School of Medicine provided engineering support for this research. The ONE Core is part of the NeuroTechnology Center, funded in part by the School of Medicine and by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health under award number P30NS048154.”