May 13, 2022
One of the key advantages of having an ultra-small headstage is the ability to embed, or dental cement, the headstage together with the electrode to form an active implant, which can be defined as a neural interface having integrated active electronic circuitries for amplifications, filtering, multiplexing, etc. Active implants offer far more robust noise rejection against motion artifacts and produce a cleaner signal with a lower noise floor.
No wonder commercial probe manufacturers like NeuroNexus Technologies and Diagnostic BioChips have now begun to offer probes with integrated Intan chips. This type of electrode generally costs a bit more and becomes especially expensive considering they are disposable.
The X-Headstage™ solution offers a more cost-effective alternative to those offered by the commercial probe vendors in the long run. The X-Headstage™ is designed and validated to be re-usable. When purchased in bulk, the unit price can be lower than that of a conventional headstage despite having a significantly better performance and spec.
Cost aside, the X-Headstage™ with the electrode installed is even smaller than the active silicon probes currently available on the market. The heart of the X-Headstage™ is a SiP (system in package) like chip package specifically designed to allow more efficient integration of components. Silicon probes can be easily adapted to work with the X-Headstage™ by replacing the probe board with smaller, cheaper connectors that mate with the X-Headstage™.
More importantly, the X-Headstage™ enables researchers who make their electrodes the ability to transform their otherwise passive implants into an active design. With KonteX’s ecosystem of connectivity accessories, the X-Headstage™ solution enables even more flexible implant possibilities such as accessing multiple implants in different regions through a singular cable solution.
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