Instrument Design for Neuroscience Research

This web site is dedicated to the free dissemination of instrument design information as used in basic and applied medical research using nonhuman primates, with an emphasis on neuroscience research. This is a community effort! Our small group cannot be the ultimate source of information regarding every scientific instrument imaginable, given the wide range of electrical, mechanical, and other specialized devices necessary for advanced experimental neuroscience research. We can provide a place to store designs and design ideas for our mutual benefit.

HOW DO I FIND OUT MORE?

If you are interested in medical instrument designs, you are encouraged to JOIN -- use the link near the upper right corner of the browser window to create your own login account. (Despite the use of the word "account", it costs nothing beyond supplying a valid e-mail address. You will have to have web-browser "cookies" enabled -- per-session cookies are adequate.) Within a few minutes, you will receive an email with your initial password.

Once you have your own password, use the LOGIN link to access the content of this web site. If logging-in fails after several attempts, you can complain to the web-admin through a form on the About page. Access the design library by clicking on the Designs link at the top of the page. Click on the Services link if you might be interested in getting assistance with the design, modification, or construction of devices. We also have a few Tutorials meant to help those of us with biological backgrounds understand some technical subjects. Lastly, in the About section we acknowledge some of the work used to operate this web site.

WHAT DOES IT COST?

For you--not a cent! The devices and techniques to be found on this site are freely downloadable. You may build any of these devices for your own use without having to pay the designer. If you need assistance -- whether it be with design modification, fabrication techniques, or because you don't have the facilities to build some or all of an instrument -- help is available, though it probably will not be free. If you require our paid assistance, we accept Visa and MasterCard as well as institutional POs.

I HAVE A COOL DESIGN/IDEA, HOW DO I CONTRIBUTE THAT?

You may have an idea for an instrument, or a modification to an existing device, stemming from some unmet experimental need. You don't need to know how to satisfy that need, so long as you can clearly describe it. There are Request/Comment sections throughout the Design hierarchy to request designs, or to constructively criticize existing designs. Your (login) name will get credit for this contribution.

For those with the necessary skills, we encourage you to contribute your own design(s) with new capabilities, lower cost, or easier fabrication, there are -- once again, spread throughout the design hierarchy -- facilities to upload fully realized designs. The license for any given design is up to you, its creator, but must allow researchers to build devices for their own use, in keeping with the freely-available nature of all the designs listed here.

THIS WEB SITE HAS A DESIGN THAT STINKS COULD BE IMPROVED

If you have found a problem with a given design, please describe the difficulty in the associated comment section. Better yet, if you know how to fix the problem, or add some really useful feature, provide that information so that the designer may update the design files. We will all benefit!

Oh yes... you will find that this web site (designed and operated by technical folk) may not be the most esthetically pleasing site you've ever found. Hopefully this will improve over time; please forgive our stylistic lapses until then. If there are aspects that do not render well on your web browser -- please let us know, we are concerned with usability.

THIS WEB SITE HAS A DESIGN THAT LOOKS USEFUL TO ME, HOW CAN I GET ONE?

You cannot buy these devices pre-made from us - we do not stock already manufactured devices. However:

• You are welcome to build it yourself. Or,
• If you cannot build it yourself: you can ask the original contributor, if they have left the necessary contact information. They might stock them, or may be able to help you build the device. Or,
• For designs created by us, and probably most of the designs created by others: we can help you build it yourself; or modify a design to your specific requirements; or we can build the entire device, so that you receive a complete, custom-designed and tested device, with user support. This last option is not free, since parts and materials are not free, and we get part of our funding from charging for the labor required to build such items. Our rates are quite reasonable, particularly for research and educational institutions. See the Services section for more details.

Commercial use or production of these designs may be restricted -- please check the licensing for the design being considered. You may share the design files with other researchers, though we encourage you to give them our web address so that they may download the files directly from us.

I HAVE AN INSTRUMENT THAT ALMOST DOES WHAT I NEED

It is frequently a problem you have a device (or can get one) that almost meets your need... only to find that it fails in some small but crucial way. We may be able to modify the device so that it does what you need. See the Services section for more details.

WHAT DO WE NOT DO (that maybe you think we should)?

• We don't have information about commercial instruments or the companies that produce them. Those who might be interested in that kind of information are encouraged to go somewhere else instead. There are economies of scale available to commercially produced goods, so don't take this as condemnation. Our smaller niche involves devices that have special features or performance not (yet) generally obtainable from commercial suppliers. We don't even compare firms or their products, though it is reasonable to offer comparisons between a free design offered here and a commercial device, so long as that comparison does not violate US law.
• We do not provide any guarantee for any of the "paper" designs on this web site. This is in contrast to the real/physical instruments that we produce -- see the Services section for more details, and the Disclaimers, below.
• We don't offer help in experimental design, nor (less facetiously) does this web site have answers for how to combine various devices together to achieve any particular purpose. It is possible that we or someone else might be able to help, but answers to questions like these are more likely to be found in journals and in concert with your collegues.
• We do not sell designs that someone else has created. We might sell some physical device based on someone else's design, license permitting. Others can do the same.
• This web site is not a forum for discussing the ethics of using animals for medical research.

WHAT ABOUT MY PRIVACY?

We are not going to know much about you beyond your name and e-mail address. We aren't going to ask for any financial or personal information, so don't send us any. We aren't going to be spamming you, not even sending you unrequested ads about how wonderful our services are. There is information regarding our services on this web site, but you are not obligated to look at it. We will not sell or otherwise divulge any specific contact information with anyone else with the possible though highly unlikely exception of a law enforcement action. We do not keep track of who downloads what. If you upload designs, or make requests/comments on one or more of those sections, we'll have that; and if you leave contact information in any of these, others could use that to contact you. The login procedure provides a weak shield of e-mail addresses from the outside world, so we cannot offer any absolute guarantees of anonimity. It should block most spambots from harvesting email addresses from this web site.

There are two circumstances in which we might contact you: (1) you submit a design- the reviewer(s) may need some clarification or other changes prior to acceptance; and (2) if you download one or more designs- quite infrequently, our NIH/ORIP sponsors require proof that we are providing a useful service to the community. We might inquire whether your use of this service has benefitted you.

WHO RUNS THIS, ANYWAY?

This web site is provided by the Bioengineering Services Core of the National Primate Research Center in Seattle, WA. We're part of the University of Washington, and are subsidized by the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs, part of the National Institutes of Health.

DISCLAIMERS (Caveat lector)

• We cannot vouch for the efficacy or safety of any of the devices described herein. Using any of these devices in any context with human subjects is illegal.
• We have no way of ensuring that your device was assembled in the way that the original designer intended. It is up to you to make sure these work safely and reliably before attempting to use them in situations where the health or safety of you, your collegues, your subjects, or your data might be at risk.
• Some of the tools, chemicals, and processes needed to build these instruments are dangerous. These designs are not intended to be made by inexpert builders. If you are not familiar with the methods necessary to build a device of interest to you, find some one or some group with the necessary technical training.
• We cannot guarantee that any of the devices are completely free of legal entanglements, such as patents or copyrights by others. If legal complications for some instrument are discovered, we will remove that design from this web site.
• Some of our funding comes from designing and building devices such as those you see here, often with special adaptations for particular research objectives. However we do not censor or limit the device design archives beyond our standards of acceptance - the information provided by other designers is shared equally with all.

Thanks for your interest!