Stereotaxic Injector System

Stereotaxic surgery is a minimally invasive form of surgical intervention that uses a three-dimensional coordinate system to locate small targets. The method is used in several different types of animal research studies. It is essential to target specific sites of the brain and directly introduce into the brain pharmacological agents that might not otherwise cross the blood-brain barrier. Simple, precise control of microinjections is necessary to ensure the accurate delivery of micro volumes in research studies. Microvolume syringes and delivery systems can be found in almost any neuroscience laboratory.

To improve upon current microinjection systems used in animal research studies, inventors at Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Campus have developed a stereotaxic injector system to control intracerebral delivery of viral vectors and pharmacological agents. The innovative system can target brain regions by using three-dimensional coordinates and control of injection speed and volume. The injector system is mounted on a stereotaxic frame and consists of an oil hydraulic micromanipulator attached to a micropipette holder.

The micropipette holder includes a polyacetal or Delrin resin part that highly tightens the glass micropipette containing the virus and/or pharmacological agents to be delivered intracerebrally. The tight grip allows the injection of accurate volumes with nanoliter resolution while maintaining positional accuracy. Thus, the system can provide researchers with economical and precise intracerebral delivery of viral vectors and pharmacological agents.

Advantages:

• Directly mounted on a stereotaxic frame to allow precise injection directly into the targeted tissue.
• Provides nanoliter resolution while maintaining positional accuracy
• Assembled from standard research equipment
• Avoids the inaccuracy introduced when injections are forced through a plastic tubing

Applications:

• Researchers can use the system in any stereotaxic procedure requiring precise control of microvolume injections.
• Scientists can use it to study the relationship between molecularly defined neuronal cell types and behavior through selective expression of transgenes in a defined cell population.

Opportunity:

Available for sale at Ronal Tool.

Designs are free for non-profit research at Flinbox link to the right.

Also available for a commercial license, please contact innovation@janelia.hhmi.org.

For inquiries, please reference:

Janelia 2012-016