Mini2P: The Complete System

Technical neuroscience research equipment called Mini2P for calcium imaging

Calcium Imaging in Freely Moving Animals

The Mini2P is a miniature two-photon microscope for fast, high-resolution, multi-plane calcium imaging in freely moving mice. Weighing approximately 2.6 g with a highly flexible connection cable, Mini2P enables stable imaging without hindering animal behaviour. Its optimized optical system allows stable simultaneous recordings of neuronal activity of more than thousand cells in different brain regions.

PhenoSys presents this innovative technology as a turnkey solution, including the miniature 2P microscope with its fiber optics, laser, Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) mounted directly on the scope body (technology development from the Kavli Institute) and flexible DAQ hardware and software. Get your complete system and have it ready to run within hours.

The Mini2P technology originates from the Kavli Institute in Norway (Zong W., Obenhaus HA., Skytoen ER., Eneqvist H., de Jung NL., Vale R., Jorge MR., Moser M., and Moser El., 2022, Cell 185, 1240-1256.

Features Specifications Gallery References
  • Head-staged miniature two-photon microscope for calcium imaging in freely moving animals, developed by Zong et al. (1).
  • Total solution suite:
    • Ultra-light microscope body (approx. 2.6 g) with MEMS scanner for X-Y-scanning and µTlens for Z-scanning.
    • Two photon laser (920nm) with clean femtosecond pulses (<120 fs).
    • Light and flexible fibers and wires, with over of 2.2 m length allowing maximum freedom for the animal to move.
    • Huge vDAQ board for synchronization of all desired peripheral devices
    • Powerful workstation with all required hardware and software pre-installed.
    • Compact hardware design, everything integrated on a mobile trolley.
    • The package comes ready-to-use.
    • Full technical support
  • Fast imaging (40 Hz for 256×256 pixels) in a large field of view 420 x 420 µm2.
  • Multilayer imaging into 240 µm depth.
  • Set of interchangeable objectives to image e.g. visual cortex, medial entorhinal cortex or hippocampus.
  • Simultaneous activity imaging of more than 1,000 neurons in one region or recoding of more than 10,000 cells in adjacent field-of-views.
  • Stable high-quality imaging across a wide spectrum of mouse behaviours, including instances such as climbing and jumping.
  • Raw data is fully accessible and the system is individually extendable.

 

(1) Zong W., Obenhaus HA., Skytoen ER., Eneqvist H., de Jung NL., Vale R., Jorge MR., Moser M., and Moser El., 2022, Cell 185, 1240-1256

  • Single wavelength fiber laser: 920 nm, <120 fsec
  • Mini2P microscopy body:
    • Weight: ~ 2.6 g
    • Quartet of microtunable lenses (µTlens) for z-scanning with 240 µm depth
    • MEMS mirror: Large MEMs: 15 Hz (256 x 256 pixel), 500 x 500 µm2  and Fast MEMs at 40 Hz (256 x 256 pixels), 420 x 420 µm2     
    • Resolution: 1.3 µm x 1.3 µm x 15 µm
    • Base plate and stitching adapter (for FOVs of up to 4 mm2)
    • Dual emission SiPMs for:
      • Conventional Imaging e.g. Calcium Imaging
      • Fast Imaging e.g. FLIM

 

  • Interchangeable objectives:
    • D0213 (with cover glass to image e.g. visual cortex)
    • D0254 (with GRIN lens to image e.g. hippocampal CA1)
    • D0277 (with prism to image e.g. medial entorhinal cortex)
  • Excitation fiber:
    • Length: 2.2 m
  • Cable Harness:
    • 6-wire bundle to control µTlens and MEMS mirror
    • Length: 2.5 m

The Mini2P is a miniature 2-photon microscope brain explorer for fast high-resolution calcium imaging in freely-moving mice.

Miniature 2 photon microscope

The Mini2P has a weight of only 2.4 g.

The Mini2P technology originates from the Kavli Institute in Norway (1).

(1) Zong W., Obenhaus HA., Skytoen ER., Eneqvist H., de Jung NL., Vale R., Jorge MR., Moser M., and Moser El., 2022, Cell 185, 1240-1256

We supply the Mini2P together with a mobile cart containing the DAQ interface and the laser.

Cuboidal base with a monitor and keyboard placed on top

The Mini2P originates from the Kavli Institute, Norway: Mini2p website

 

 

Zong W., Obenhaus HA., Skytoen ER., Eneqvist H., de Jung NL., Vale R., Jorge MR., Moser M., and Moser El., 2022, Cell 185, 1240-1256