Compatibility with Femtowatt photoreceiver 2151 for fiber photometry data aquisition

[Martina]

Good morning.

I need a data acquisition system for my fiber photometry system. I am using the Femtowatt Silicon Photoreceiver 2151 as the photodetector. Its output is a voltage proportional to the light power detected from the fluorescence emissions in my mice. The photoreceiver has a BNC output connector. I have the Analog discovery 2 already for FSCV purposes. I was wondering if, with a BNC adapter, it would be possible to use this oscilloscope for fiber photometry purposes. 

The software, Waveform, comes with an SDK package, meaning I could adapt the software using Python/Matlab to suit fiber photometry data analysis? 

 

Thank you!

[JColvin]

Hi @Martina,

I'm not familiar with required mathematics or techniques for photometry analysis, but briefly looking through the User Guide for the Femtowatt Silicon Photoreceiver 2151 seems to indicate that the output voltage will be around the 1 V range and a bandwidth less than 1 kHz.

Based on those details I saw and the presuming the following:

• that photometry analysis is a matter of measuring voltage or using a spectrum analyzer (there are a few built in Python examples that you may find helpful)
  •  
• The minimum voltage that the photoreceiver outputs isn't too small; for the Analog Discovery 2 specifically the absolute resolution is 0.32 mV or 3.58 mV depending on what hardware voltage range you are using: https://digilent.com/reference/test-and-measurement/analog-discovery-2/specifications#analog_inputs.
  • I couldn't readily find any voltage output specifications in the photoreceiver documentation, but if this type of equipment is needing to be able to accurately resolve single digit millivolt or smaller voltages, then I would be looking for other hardware, potentially the WebDAQ 504, https://digilent.com/reference/daq-and-datalogging/webdaq/webdaq-504/start, as it has 24-bit resolution on a +- 5 V range can can sample up to 51 kS/s which should be fast enough based on my understanding of the photometer specifications. The WebDAQ does not use WaveForms but my understanding is that you can still perform FFTs which should cover the spectrum analysis requirements.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
JColvin