Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory

CNL Wiki

Docs: Blackrock System Setup

Updated on March 5, 2025

Description

Step-by-step instructions for setting up and connecting the Blackrock recording system in the patient room

Requirements 

  • Equipment: 
    • BR recording system
    • Shielding fabric (3)
    • Masking tape
    • Grounding octopus 1 (white, for microelectrode)
    • Impedance meter
    • Jumper cables (male/female)
    • Patient blue folder
    • Pens (2)

 

Preparing the Patient Area

  1. Position Blackrock cart to the right of patient bed beside the clinical Nihon-Kohden amplifier (avoid moving the NK amp if possible)
  2. Connect BR cart power cable to red wall outlet behind patient bed 
  3. Turn on two BR amplifier power supplies located on the bottom of the cart
  4. Turn NSP (wait until initialization is complete and version is displayed)
  5. Turn on BR PC
  6. Move patient table and tray away from the bed and testing equipment
  7. Position table with experimental laptop over the bed and adjust height if needed
  8. Disconnect bed (cables with blue connectors) and leg compression machine 
    1. Ensure patient is in a comfortable position for testing before disconnecting the bed
  9. Disconnect personal electronic devices (e.g. phone/laptop chargers)
  10. Disconnect the IV pump machine CHARGER only (black power supply with green light)

 

IMPORTANT: Plug in IV pump charger if low battery and patient is receiving infusion at any point

 

Setting up Blackrock

Macroelectrode Connection

BR can record from up to 128 macrochannels (2 banks total, A and B; each bank= 64 channels)

  1. Locate both ends of Bank A (1-64 chan, green connector) and B (65- 128 chan, purple connector) macro cable on Nihon-Kohden amplifier and T-bar (patient blue pouch)
  2. Locate two BR Bank A and B split macro cables and macro adapters (grey, 64 metal pins) and have them easily accessible
  3. IMPORTANT: Ask the patient if they expect a seizure to occur within the next minute while we swap the BR and NK macro cables (this will temporarily disrupt EEG acquisition)
  4. Screenshot patient EEG prior to disconnection
  5. Loosen screws on NK Bank A and B connectors from NK amp
  6. Disconnect NK Bank A and B cables from the NK amplifier and T-bar
  7. Set aside NK macro cables on NK amplifier cart (these are not needed for BR recordings)
  8. Connect the BR Bank A and B cables to the Bank A (1-64) and B (65-128) ports on NK amplifier and T-bar
  9. Connect the BR macro adapters 

 

Microelectrode Connection

BR can record from up to 128 microchannels (4 banks total, A-D; each bank= 32 channels)

  1. Insert IDC-10 (Behnke-Fried) microelectrode connectors in each sub-bank on IDC-10 BR headstages (sub-bank=individual slots with 10 pins)
  2. Insert commercial (AdTech) microelectrode in each sub-bank on BR Cabrio headstages by aligning commercial micro metal contacts with metal pins on Cabrio headstages (sub-bank= wings with holes for Adtech contacts)
  3. Once contacts are aligned with rows of pins, close Carbio headstage wing (‘click’ sound)
  4. Connect blue-ribbon cables to each BR headstage
  5. Secure headstages to L/R patient head with masking tape (avoid headstage placement along midline and posterior area)

 

Software

  1. Open Central
  2. Go to File > Load System Settings 
  3. Load patient configuration file (.cfg)

Windows (C:)/Program Files/Blackrock/Configuration/xxx_config.cfg

  1. Central windows that you will need:
    1. Raster Plot
  • Elec1-128 – micro raw LFP (microchannels listed to left)
  • Chan129-256 – macro raw LFP (macrochannels listed to left)
  • digital input (dgInp) – events (TTL pulses) channel
  • analog input 2 (aInp2)- microphone channel
    1. Spike Panel- plots individual spikes detected on each microchannel
    2. File Storage- start/stop Recording
  2. To add all channels to Raster Plot, click ‘Add All’ in toolbar
  3. To add/remove spikes events from LFP in Raster Plot, click mini raster plot icon in toolbar
  4. Set path for new recording, go to File Storage> Browse
  5. Create experiment folder

DATA (D:)/DXXX/EXPX_Paradigm

  1. Run TTL test- verify triggers are sent and appear on dgInp channel 
  2. Check microphone signal- turn on microphone amplifier and do not adjust microphone settings (knobs on frontend of amp)
  3. Start Recording

 

Denoising 

  1. Wrap headstages with shielding fabric
  2. Avoid tangling and bending of micro ribbon cables/AdTech pigtails, BR macro and blue-ribbon cables
  3. Keep BR cables off of floor and away from common sources of electrical noise (i.e. BR power supplies, NK amplifier)
  4. Disconnect unnecessary electronic devices in patient room
  5. Use external keyboard if laptop keyboard is introducing noise (occasionally observed with CNL mac 5)
  6. Connect stimulators/other devices and BR on different walls
  7. Change references for individual banks via hardware reference switches located on headstages (consult research team beforehand)

 

Important Notes:

  • Never use scissors to remove or cut dressing, tape etc. on patient head
  • Gently remove tape by hand
  • Avoid use of excess tape as this adds weight to patient head and makes it difficult to access wires by research or clinical teams
  • Unless uncomfortable for the patient or for clinical reasons, chets can remain on patient overnight 
  • Always check proper chet placement after testing and before leaving patient