Locomotion tracking upgrade

Locomotion patterns provide valuable information about animals. Moreover, observing these patterns helps to influence desirable and discourage undesirable behaviors. This applies to head-fixed mice navigating in the Mobile HomeCage.

Ready to upgrade your Mobile HomeCage device with locomotion tracking?

We have built our tracking devices into the air dispenser so that they don’t take extra space in the experimental set-up. Besides that: the magnetic tracking is fast and precise. The magnetometer’s “vision”, unlike that of a camera, is not obstructed by other objects such as manipulators. It “sees” equally well in dark and in light conditions.

Main benefits of locomotion tracking

• Live monitoring, online and offline analysis of the mouse’s position, speed, and trajectory of movement;
• Operant conditioning via automatic stimuli delivery (liquid reward or air puff) during closed-loop experiments;
• Independent behavioral readout as well as an integral part of other behavioral paradigms (such as maze navigation or open-field).

Features of Neurotar’s locomotion tracking solution

• High speed: 200 fps;
• Precision: <0,5 mm spatial resolution;
• Ambient light does not affect tracking;
• Six I/O ports;
• Supported voltage specifications: 1.8 V, 2.5 V, 3.3 V, 5.0 V;
• No extra space is required for the tracking device that “lives” inside the air dispenser;
• Optosync function enables synchronizing locomotion and imaging data without an electrical connection;
• Software is included in the price (easy to download from the customer portal).

Compatibility

Tracking upgrades are compatible with the standard-size Mobile HomeCage V6 (serial numbers starting with MHC-00186) as well as the Mobile HomeCage Large V3-4 or AirLift Large (serial numbers starting with MHCL-00028). Hardware installation takes less than 15 minutes.

Upgrade kit composition

Kit parts	Locomotion tracking upgrade (standard)	Locomotion tracking upgrade (large)
Electronic control unit (ECU V5)	X	X
Sensor board	standard	large
RS-232 cable	X	X
USB cable (A to C)	X	X
Optosync probe and holder	X	X
Locomotion tracking software	X	X

Please note that we no longer include the tracking mats with the tracking upgrade kit (standard size). The new 180 mm diameter cages that come with the Mobile HomeCage or the AirLift, have magnets built into the bottom, just like the large cages. The labs that use old cages, can buy additional mats in our webstore.