Nathan (@Dr_N8_PhD) wasn’t impressed that he had to recalibrate his pressure transducers every time he disconnected then reconnected the power supply. So he updated the code to store the calibration values in the Arduino memory. You’ll find the code below. Nathan also prompted me to put together some better instructions for putting the thing together, so get sending him some love. Get all the details here or below.
Think myogenic tone experiments are boring? Well, you haven’t tried myogenic tone experiments with VasoTracker. They’re as dull as dishwater. But that’s because we automate them. There is no longer any need to turn the dial of your Living Systems PS-200. Nope, now you can go for lunch while VasoTracker takes care of pressure for you.
Brand spanking new features:
Control your Living Systems pressure servo system using a NI DAQ board (e.g. USB-6001).
VasoTracker 1.3.0 (17/08/2020)
Requires Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit & 8GB of RAM. Β ΞΌManager and camera drivers may have other requirements.
MAKE SURE YOU INSTALL THE PREREQUISITES (SEE HERE)
Compatible cameras:
Most cameras supported by Β΅Manager.
Updates
Since 1.3.0 (17/08/2020)
Control Living Systems Ps-200 Pressure Servo system using NI DAQ board (e.g. USB-6001)
Since 1.2.0 (28/05/2020)
Manual line caliper
Improved algorithm (does not require vessel to be centered)
Our diameter tracking softwareΒ allows you to monitor pressure myography experiments. It’s entirely free.
Updated features
We added a whole load of new settings to let you customize the diameter tracking performance (without learning Python). With VasoTracker you can measure blood vessel diameter across the whole field of view or within a region of interest. We made a few other tweaks and also fixed some bugs, this included fixing a memory bug that caused VasoTracker to rash intermittently on long recordings. Default speed is 4 Hz.
Need to relax in the lab?
VasoTracker is famous for reducing myograph-related stress. But, we thought we could help a little more. That’s why you can now relax with some Space Invaders.
VasoTracker 1.1.0
Requires Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit & 8GB of RAM. Β ΞΌManager and camera drivers may have other requirements.
MAKE SURE YOU INSTALL THE PREREQUISITES (SEE HERE)
Compatible cameras:
Most cameras supported by Β΅Manager.
Updates:
Space Invaders
Fixed a memory issue that caused intermittent crashing.
We have released a few versions of our offline blood vessel diameter tracking software, but this one is definitely the best. It features the algorithm we used in this paper.
Diameter tracking features
We have added a whole load of new settings so that you can customize the diameter tracking algorithm (without learning Python). VasoTrackerOA measures diameter across the whole field of view, within a region of interest, or across a single scan line (drawn in any direction). We even removed a few buttons that didn’t work properly. Download it and give it a try on your myography or ultrasound data!
Stress management features
Some users reported that our diameter tracking software was very helpful in reducing workloads and stress levels. We realize that those who haven’t yet downloaded VasoTrackerOA may have large amounts of data to be analyzed. Such large backlogs of data are associated with increased stress and reduced productivity. Recognizing this, and taking inspiration from scientific reports such as this one, we incorporated a new feature to boost productivity and help ones mental healthΒ flourish. Space Invaders.
So if you are a bit stressed out, or just have some blood vessel imaging data that you would like to analyze, get our latest version.
We’ve just released our software for offline analysis of blood vessel images. The offline analyzer can create diameter recordings from a variety of imaging data. It works with pressure myography video files, fluorsence imaging recordings (en face arteries), and even ultrasound imaging.
We are quite proud of this package, as it speeds up our analysis significantly and allowed us to easily analyze old data. If you want to measure blood vessel diameter in video recordings, download our open source (free!) software a try. Get it here.
VasoTracker Offline Analyzer 1.0.1 (27/04/2019)
Requires Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit & 8GB of RAM.
Features:
Measure blood vessel diameter from a variety of imaging data (myography, fluorescence imaging, ultrasound).
The Pachter lab at Caltech has shared its design for the Poseidon project. Poseidon is a 3D-printedΒ syringe pump and microscope system designed for microfluidic experiments, and it is described in a preprint published onΒ bioRxiv. The complete system is controlled by a tiny Raspberry Pi computer and comes with a 7″ touchscreen interface!
Pressure myographs require some way to image the blood vessel mounted in the chamber. We’ve been recommending cheap upright AmScope microscopes that you can get on Amazon, or Nikon’s cheapest inverted offerings. But we thought it would be nice if VasoTracker had its own open source microscope. So we’ve been adapting the Poseidon microscope design for use with our pressure myographs. We’ve even rewritten our diameter tracking software to run on the Raspberry Pi.
All in, the microscope costs less than Β£150 to make! Check back here soon for an update!
VasoTracker Pressure Monitor Manual434 Downloads
