Hi Chris -
Happy 2026!
IMEC recently launched a product called “OneBox” — an all in one solution for recording neuropixels that includes an integrated breakout board for 12 non-neural channels (DAC/ADC).
A colleague tells me this might be the closest thing to a “plug and play” solution for jumpstarting neuropixels recordings in the lab - and I wanted to consult with you briefly about how we might integrate it into our current MWorks setup.
I imagine it’s pretty straightforward to re-route the analog signals that we currently send to Blackrock (eye and laser traces) to this OneBox breakout board. However, I’m less sure about how we might re-route the digital signals from MWorks to OneBox. We’re currently using a custom digital cable (DB25 to DB37?) that goes from the VPixx digital breakout box to the Blackrock digital inputs. I assume we need a new digital cable from VPixx breakout box to Onebox?
Do you foresee any other issues in getting this to work in our setup based on the online link provided?
Thank you!
Yasmine
Hi Yasmine,
Happy new year!
It looks like the auxiliary I/O lines on the OneBox are all analog. Also, while the hardware supports 12 channels each of analog input (ADC) and output (DAC), each pin (or BNC on the breakout board) is shared by one ADC and one DAC channel. Therefore, you have access to at most 12 channels total, although you can determine the mix of ADC and DAC.
Helpfully, both Open Ephys and SpikeGLX let you record digital signals on the OneBox’s ADC channels (using a fixed voltage threshold to distinguish high from low). However, you’re still limited to 12 total I/O channels, several of which will be used an analog inputs for the eye and laser traces. Currently, you’re sending 16 digital lines from VPixx to Blackrock, so that you can encode experiment events as 16-bit integers. Unless you can make do with fewer bits, the OneBox alone isn’t going to cut it.
This means you’re going to need another device to record digital outputs from the VPixx. How the digital signals are synchronized with neural and auxiliary data from the OneBox will depend on the acquisition software (Open Ephys or SpikeGLX). SpikeGLX can synchronize an IMEC PXIe card (the alternative to the OneBox) with a separate NI multifunction I/O device (details). However, I don’t know if it can do that with the OneBox, too.
I hope that helps!
Cheers,
Chris
Hi Yasmine,
It seems that pairing two OneBox systems can give us access to double the number of total channels. Do you think this could be a good way to get around our need for 16 bit digital codes? Im guessing we would have to split the digital cable from the VPixx breakout box such that it goes to two OneBox systems? Do you think that’s a smart (or likely futile) approach?
It might work, but I’m not sure it’s a good solution. The fact that you’d be relying on the acquisition software to record digital signals from the analog inputs already seems a little dubious to me. On top of that, you’d also have to figure out how to synchronize the time stamps from the two OneBox’s. Maybe the acquisition software supports that, too, but if not, it could make your data analysis tricky.
Is it possible (or likely futile) to consider a more compact system for digital codes (e.g. less than 16 bit) in which case we could use the OneBox system? I am guessing this strategy could be too limiting for the future, and would cause issues for compatibility with current code and set up?
I’m not familiar with the set of codes you’re currently sending, but it’s very possible that you already rely on the full 16 bits. Even if you don’t, 16 bits is not a lot of data. I expect it would be difficult, if not impossible, to make do with less.
Also, it’s worth remembering that your Blackrock system is designed to reliably record complete 16-bit words. (It has a separate “strobe” line that tells it when it should capture the 16 data bits.) I don’t know if or how you could replicate that with a OneBox.
Would you still recommend going with the full system instead of these OneBox options? I know the Jazayeri lab is using MWorks and Neuropixels - so maybe a key advantage is that there’s sufficient community knowledge to help us with a swift transition to the full system (but not the OneBox option)?
It does seem like a PXI-based system would ultimately be simpler (although presumably more expensive). It would also let you increase the number of probes you use, if you want. And having the same setup as the Jazayeri Lab certainly could be helpful. Do you know if they’re using an NI I/O device in conjunction with the Neuropixels hardware?
Cheers,
Chris