Miniaturized lens implantation device and method based on brain imaging

Abstract

The invention discloses equipment and a method for implanting a miniaturized lens based on brain imaging. The implanting equipment is composed of a gradient refractive index lens (GRIN lenses), a metal tube 1, a metal tube 2, an injector, a vacuum tube and a suction filtration pump. The caliber of the metal tube 1 is slightly larger than that of the GRIN lens, and the caliber of the metal tube 2 is slightly smaller than that of the GRIN lens. The metal tube 2 is placed in the middle section of the metal tube 1 and fixed by glue, the injector is inserted from one end and communicated to the suction filtration pump through the vacuum tube, and the inside of the passage of the whole system is completely vacuum. And putting the GRIN lens into the metal tube 1, starting the suction filtration pump, fixing the GRIN lens on the equipment through negative pressure, and closing the suction filtration pump when the GRIN lens moves to a proper implantation position to complete implantation. According to the device designed in the scheme, implantation of the miniaturized microscope lens in the head of the experimental animal is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a device and method for implanting a miniaturized lens, and more particularly to a device and method for implanting a miniaturized microscope lens based on brain imaging. Currently, GRIN lens is commonly used as an objective lens in miniaturized fluorescence microscopes, which has the advantages of small size and light weight, and can image the brain neurons of experimental animals within the range of their free movement. However, how to accurately and non-destructively implant the GRIN lens into the animal's head is a problem that needs to be solved. Background Art

[0002] Neuroscientists strive to understand the information processing process in the brain by observing brain activity during animal behavior. In order to understand the brain, researchers not only require high-resolution observation of neurons in vivo, but also hope to perform brain functional imaging on awake and freely moving animals to understand the relationship between behavior and brain activity. Therefore, while imaging technology continues to improve performance such as resolution and speed, scientists are also actively improving and innovating these imaging techniques to minimize the behavioral activities of the observed objects during imaging, in order to obtain information about brain activity that is closest to the physiological state. Extracellular electrophysiological recording has always been the preferred technology for such studies, and has produced many groundbreaking discoveries in the past few decades, such as the spatial representation of place cells and grid cells. However, due to the technical limitations of electrophysiological recording itself, many important dynamic situations cannot be obtained through dense recording. For example, in dense recording, the spacing between electrodes limits the mapping of the fine spatial / anatomical organization of neurons in the circuit and their relationship with the recorded encoding dynamics.

[0003] In recent years, fluorescence microscopy has emerged as a complementary method for recording neural activity, facilitating the study of dynamic aspects that are difficult to resolve with electrophysiology. These methods are based on different fluorescence imaging modes, namely single-photon or two-photon microscopy, and the experiments are usually performed under head-fixed conditions. However, biologists believe that this method cannot reflect the behavioral activities of experimental animals in a free and autonomous state. Animals with fixed heads are under emotional stress and physical constraints during the experiment, and the experimental results themselves have certain errors.

[0004] Therefore, head-mounted miniaturized microscopic imaging equipment gradually came into the field of vision of researchers. Miniaturized microscopic imaging equipment has an objective lens structure, a stable working distance, imaging depth and spatial resolution, and because of its small size and light weight, the surgical trauma during installation is small, which is within the range that experimental animals can bear, ensuring the physiological state of awakeness and free will.

[0005] With the development of precision manufacturing, optical components and micro-electromechanical components can maintain the same performance as conventional components while reducing their size, which significantly improves the effect of miniaturized microscopic imaging systems; the objective lens, as the most important component in a microscope, directly determines the imaging effect of the entire microscope. The high precision required for traditional lens surface processing has increased the difficulty of miniaturized lens manufacturing and increased production costs. GRIN lens is an effective alternative, with a minimum lens diameter of 0.2 mm. Due to the special manufacturing mechanism of gradient refractive index lenses, lens parameters such as focal length and working distance can be flexibly adjusted to a great extent by simply changing the lens length. At the same time, gradient refractive index lenses are usually cylindrical or rectangular with flat ends, making them more suitable for assembly, further meeting the requirements of miniaturized lenses, and simplifying the optical path.

[0006] However, the conventional method of implanting a GRIN lens in the head is to manually clamp it and place it in the target position. However, this method is limited by the operator's state, the installation effect is not stable, and the clamping force is difficult to control, which has the risk of damaging the objective lens. Therefore, it is necessary to design a device that can accurately implant the GRIN lens in the required position of the animal's head without damaging the objective lens to ensure that the miniaturized microscope can achieve basic imaging functions. Summary of the invention

[0007] A brief overview of the present invention is provided below in order to provide a basic understanding of certain aspects of the present invention. It should be understood that this overview is not an exhaustive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify key or important parts of the present invention, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Its purpose is merely to present certain concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description discussed later.

[0008] In view of this, in order to overcome the above technical problems, the present invention provides a device and method for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging, which realizes the stable and non-destructive implantation of the GRIN lens into the required position of the head of the test animal, ensuring the smooth progress of the entire imaging process.

[0009] Solution 1: The present invention provides a device and method for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging, wherein the device for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging comprises: a GRIN lens, a metal tube 1, a metal tube 2, a syringe, a vacuum tube, and a filtration pump;

[0010] Further: the GRIN lens is a 1 / 4 pitch lens with a diameter of 2 mm.

[0011] Furthermore: the diameter of the metal tube 1 is slightly larger than the diameter of the GRIN lens, and the diameter of the metal tube 2 is slightly smaller than the diameter of the GRIN lens.

[0012] Furthermore: the metal tube 2 is to be nested in the metal tube 1, and the gap is blocked with glue.

[0013] Further: When the metal tube 2 and the metal tube 1 are nested, it is necessary to ensure that the surfaces of both are flat and there is enough space to place the lens.

[0014] Further: glue needs to be applied around the syringe head to facilitate stable bonding with the metal tube 2 and isolate the air when nesting.

[0015] Further: the length of the vacuum tube ranges from 60 to 80 cm.

[0016] Further: The entire system must remain sealed during the connection process.

[0017] Furthermore: the device for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging has the following usage method, which is characterized by: firstly, the GRIN lens is fitted with the metal tube 1 and the metal tube 2 through the metal tube 1, and then the suction pump is turned on to realize negative pressure at the port to temporarily adsorb it, and after moving the GRIN lens to a suitable position, the lens is quickly fixed with glue, and the suction pump is turned off, the negative pressure disappears, the GRIN lens is separated from the device, and the implantation is successful.

[0018] Beneficial Effects

[0019] The present invention provides a solution for the implantation of GRIN lens in animal head experiments based on miniaturized microscopes. The GRIN lens is adsorbed in the device by vacuum extraction to generate negative pressure, and then moved to the target position on the animal's head, and then quickly fixed with glue, and the suction pump is turned off to eliminate the negative pressure to complete the implantation process. This invention ensures that the GRIN lens is stably and vertically placed in the optimal position, eliminates the risk of damage, and optimizes the imaging process to the greatest extent. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the device for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging of the present invention.

[0021] In the figure: 1 GRIN lens, 2 metal tube 1, 3 metal tube 2, 4 syringe, 5 vacuum tube, 6 filtration pump. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. For the sake of clarity and conciseness, not all features of the actual implementation are described in the specification. However, it should be understood that many implementation-specific decisions must be made in the process of developing any such actual implementation in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as meeting those constraints related to the system and business, and these constraints may vary from implementation to implementation. In addition, it should be understood that although the development work may be very complex and time-consuming, it is only a routine task for those skilled in the art who benefit from the disclosure of the present invention.

[0023] It is also necessary to explain here that, in order to avoid obscuring the present invention due to unnecessary details, only the device structure and / or processing steps closely related to the solution according to the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, while other details that are not closely related to the present invention are omitted.

[0024] Embodiment 1: As attached Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides a device and a method for using a miniaturized lens implant based on brain imaging, which is used to solve the problem of implanting a miniaturized microscope objective lens in the head of an experimental animal.

[0025] The device for implanting the miniaturized lens for brain imaging comprises: a GRIN lens 1, a metal tube 12, a metal tube 23, a syringe 4, a vacuum tube 5 and a filtration pump 6;

[0026] More specifically: the GRIN lens 1 is a 1 / 4 pitch lens with a diameter of 2 mm.

[0027] More specifically: the diameter of the metal tube 12 is slightly larger than the diameter of the GRIN lens 1 , and the diameter of the metal tube 23 is slightly smaller than the diameter of the GRIN lens 1 .

[0028] More specifically: the metal tube 23 is to be nested in the metal tube 12, and the gap is blocked with glue.

[0029] More specifically: when the metal tube 23 and the metal tube 12 are nested, it should be ensured that the surfaces of both are flat and there is enough space to place the lens.

[0030] More specifically: glue needs to be applied around the head of the syringe 4 to facilitate stable bonding with the metal tube 23 and isolate the air when nesting.

[0031] More specifically: the length of the vacuum tube 5 is in the range of 60-80 cm.

[0032] More specifically: The entire system must remain sealed during the connection process.

[0033] More specifically: the device for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging is used as follows, characterized in that: first, the GRIN lens 1 is fitted with the metal tube 23 through the metal tube 12, and then the suction pump 6 is turned on to achieve negative pressure at the port, and after the GRIN lens 1 is moved to a suitable position, the lens is quickly fixed with glue, and the suction pump 6 is turned off, the negative pressure disappears, the GRIN lens 1 is separated from the device, and the implantation is successful.

[0034] Although the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are as above, the contents are only embodiments adopted for facilitating understanding of the technical solution of the present invention, and are not used to limit the present invention. Any technician in the technical field to which the present invention belongs can make any modifications and changes in the form and details of the implementation without departing from the core technical solution disclosed in the present invention, but the protection scope defined by the present invention shall still be subject to the scope defined in the attached claims.

Claims

1. A device for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging, characterized in that: The brain imaging fixed base of the miniaturized microscope comprises: a gradient refractive index lens (GRIN lens) (1), a metal tube 1 (2), a metal tube 2 (3), a syringe (4), a vacuum tube (5) and a filtration pump (6).

2. The device for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging according to claim 1, characterized in that: The GRIN lens (1) is a 1 / 4 pitch lens with a diameter of 2 mm.

3. The device for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging according to claim 1, characterized in that: The diameter of the metal tube 1 (2) is slightly larger than the diameter of the GRIN lens (1), and the diameter of the metal tube 2 (3) is slightly smaller than the diameter of the GRIN lens (1).

4. The device for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging according to claim 1, characterized in that: The metal tube 2 (3) is to be nested in the metal tube 1 (2), and the gap is blocked with glue.

5. The device for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the metal tube 2 (3) and the metal tube 1 (2) are nested, it is necessary to ensure that the surfaces of both are flat and there is enough space to place the lens.

6. The device for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging according to claim 1, characterized in that: Glue needs to be applied around the head of the syringe (4) to facilitate stable bonding with the metal tube 2 (3) and to isolate the air when nesting.

7. The device for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging according to claim 1, characterized in that: The length of the vacuum tube (5) is in the range of 60-80 cm.

8. The device for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging according to claim 1, characterized in that: The entire system must remain sealed during the connection process.

9. The device for miniaturized lens implantation based on brain imaging according to claim 1, wherein the method of use is as follows, characterized in that: First, the GRIN lens (1) is fitted through the metal tube 1 (2) and the metal tube 2 (3), and then the suction pump (6) is turned on to create negative pressure at the port to temporarily adsorb it. After the GRIN lens (1) is moved to a suitable position, the lens is quickly fixed with glue, and the suction pump (6) is turned off. The negative pressure disappears, and the GRIN lens (1) is separated from the device and implanted successfully.

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