Zantiks MWP units delivered from January 2021 include a light stimulation plate as standard. This stand acts as a light diffusing stand (for tracking) and as an additional bright light source, with brightness control. It is useful for optogenetic stimulation or initiation of a startle response. It comes with an LED light source for a variety of different wavelengths, including white, blue, and green (Please contact us to discuss your specific requirements).
There is a fairly even brightness across the light plate and we have confirmed that the plate can stimulate zebrafish larvae and adult Drosophila. However, we recommend full validation of stimulation performance in different wells for your test animals.
For assembly instructions, please refer to the MWP Introduction manual.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have a MWP Z1 unit (delivered prior to Jan 2021), please see the LIGHT STAND DEMO MWP Z1 page for instructions on how to script and use the Z1 light stand.
Light stimulation plate Z2
Here you will find operation instructions for the second generation MWP light stimulation plate.
The light stimulation plate can provide a much brighter light than the overhead lights in the range of 3,000 - 10,000 lux. We offer a range of wavelengths which can be found here. The different colour wavelengths will differ in lux intensity.
Key commands for operating the light stimulation plate
SET(VOLTAGE4,ON) SET(VOLTAGE_LEVEL,10000)
These two lines of code enable output of voltage and sets the voltage at 10000mv, which leads to the stand being off. Lowering the voltage to below about 4000mv enables the system to be high power and the light will be at full brightness. Gradually increasing the voltage reduces the LED brightness.
SET(GPO3,0) SET(GPO4,0)
SET(GPO3,0) and SET(GPO4,0) switch the specified LED output to 'off'. Setting both of these to off results in the light stand being controlled by the 'VOLTAGE_LEVEL' on 'VOLTAGE4' above.
SET(GPO3,0) SET(GPO4,1)
Turning GPO4 on by setting it to 1, sets light stand to about half power
SET(GPO3,1) SET(GPO4,0)
and
SET(GPO3,1) SET(GPO4,1)
Turning GPO3 on by setting it to 1 sets light stand to full power. If GPO4 is also set to 1, the half power is overruled and the plate remains at full power.
By turning on/off GPO3 and GPO4 in various combinations, you can control light pulses at different brightness and duration. For example, if using (GPO3,0) and (GPO4,0) so that the light is off you can use the following code:
ZCOMMAND("G3#1,P10,G3#0")
This ZCOMMAND changes GPO3 from off to on (G3#1) which switches the stand to full brightness, waits a period of 10ms (P10), before switching GPO3 back to 0 (G3#0) which turns the light stand back off. This sequence will produce a light pulse of 10ms. By increasing or decreasing the value of P in this line of code you may increase or decrease the duration of the light pulse.
The script provides examples of the various types of light or dark pulse that can be produced by varying the GPO3, GPO4, and P values. The script will run a sequence of light pulses at increasing length, followed by a sequence of dark pulses, the stand at full brightness with pulses at a dimmer light, the stand at a dimmer light with pulses at full brightness, and finally a gradual decrease in brightness by varying voltage.
Demonstration of the light_stim_demo_MWP_Z2.zs sample script for the Z2 light stand plate
Script download Z2
To download the light_stim_demo_MWP_Z2 demo scripts as .zs files (file type Zantiks software reads), choose the Save File As option in the right-click dialogue box. Clicking on the script name hyperlink will open a read-only version of the script.
Script download:
light_stim_demo_MWP_Z2.zs
Note: Try running this script with the system plugged in to see how control can work for both length of stimulus (e.g., set by P10, P50), by changing the brightness with GP03 and GP04, or by varying the voltage.
