R2Drive

Recover and Reuse your drive and probe!

The R2Drive is a recoverable and reusable metal microdrive developed in the Buzsáki lab. It is part of a fully integrated head-gear system for rats or mice, which we also manufacture.

The R2Drive is a micromachined metal microdrive for silicon probe implantation. It works with all standard commercial silicon probes with a flex cable (regular R2Drive, see below), including Neuropixels probes (Neuropixels R2Drive, see below). With a weight of less than 0.5g and a footprint of < 4×5 mm, it is small enough to be used on all rodent models. In fact, the maximum number of R2Drives successfully implanted simultaneously in a mouse is 3.

The drive sits on an implantable base that can easily be disconnected after an experiment by removing a small screw. This allows a probe mounted on the drive to be recovered and reused multiple times, drastically lowering the cost and time investment for each of your experiments. In addition, a probe mounted on an R2Drive can easily be connected to a stereotax for acute recordings, allowing you to share probes between acute and chronic experiments.

For chronic implants, the R2Drive was designed to be combined with a protective cap that also doubles as a Faraday cage. You can order protective caps here. For safe implantation and recovery of the drives, we also offer a set of stereotax attachments & drive holders and fitting screwdrivers. An additional set of R2Drive bases allows you to get your drives and probes ready for re-implantation in no time!

For an overview of different integrated implant systems, head over to our Knowledge Base. If you prefer the DIY approach, you can find instructions on how to make microdrives and protective caps yourself on the Buzsaki lab github page.

Regular vs Neuropixels R2Drive​

The R2Drive comes in two flavors, a regular and a Neuropixels version. The drive base and bodies are identical in both versions, only the dimensions (see image above) and position (see image below) of the arm differ. Note that while the regular arm reaches to the bottom of the drive base (left, distance to bottom ~0.3mm), the Neuropixels arm does not (right, distance ~1.5mm). The Neuropixels arm is therefore designed for probes with somewhat longer shanks. You can find a video of a Neuropixels probe being loaded onto a Neuropixels R2Drive (courtesy of Mihály Vöröslakos)  on Youtube.

Protocols

R2Drive stands out from other open-source systems by the abundance of protocols available in peer-reviewed journals.

• Metal microdrive and head cap system for silicon probe recovery in freely moving rodent. Vöröslakos et al., 2021, eLife (https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.65859)
• 3D-printed Recoverable Microdrive and Base Plate System for Rodent Electrophysiology. Vöröslakos et al., 2021, Bio-Protocol (https://doi.org/10.21769/BioProtoc.4137)
• Simultaneous electrophysiology and optogenetic perturbation of the same neurons in chronically implanted animals using μLED silicon probes. Kinsky et al., 2023, STAR Protocols (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102570). This protocol was used in the following study: Watkins de Jong et al., 2023, Current Biology

Example publications using the R2Drive

Ultra-high density electrodes improve detection, yield, and cell type specificity of brain recordings

Ye et al., 2023, bioRxiv

• The Neuropixels Ultra preprint
• Species: Lizard with R2Drive,  other species were mouse, macaque and electric fish

Preconfigured dynamics in the hippocampus are guided by embryonic birthdate and rate of neurogenesis

Huszár et al., 2022, Nature Neuroscience

• Species: Mice
• Paradigm: Freely moving / behaving animals
• Silicon probe + optic fiber

Optogenetics reveals paradoxical network stabilizations in hippocampal CA1 and CA3

Watkins de Jong et al., 2023, Current Biology

• Species: Rats / Mice
• µLED silicon probes

Interictal epileptiform discharges affect memory in an Alzheimer’s Disease mouse model

Soula et al., 2023, PNAS

• Model system: AD transgenic mice