Miniscope Zero: a fully wireless, single-cell-resolution miniature microscope for imaging neural dynamics in freely behaving animals
- 1UCLA
Abstract
Imaging neural fluorescence dynamics during unconstrained behavior remains a major challenge in neuroscience. Head-mounted miniature one-photon microscopes enable in vivo recordings from freely behaving animals. Still, their power and data requirements typically necessitate tethers or heavy batteries, which constrain experiments and may introduce behavioral artifacts. We present Miniscope Zero, a fully wireless miniature microscope platform combining quasistatic cavity resonance (QSCR) wireless power transfer with a high-bandwidth optical data link. The system delivers >500 mW of receiver power across a 2,500 cm2 behavioral arena and streams imaging data at 8 Mbps, supporting real-time data acquisition. Miniscope Zero provides a typical field of view of 600 m x 600 m and a 2.6-fold higher light-collection efficiency than the UCLA Miniscope v4. We demonstrate wireless CA1 GCaMP6f recordings during open-field navigation, enclosed-maze exploration, simultaneous multi-animal imaging, and extended three-dimensional behavior, enabling long-duration cellular-resolution imaging without tether-induced constraints.
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BibTeX
@misc{sasatani2026miniscope,
title = {{Miniscope Zero: a fully wireless, single-cell-resolution miniature microscope for imaging neural dynamics in freely behaving animals}},
author = {T. Sasatani and M. Brosch and Z. Dong and J. Saunders and P. Zhao and M. Sehgal and L. T. Oesch and F. Sangiuliano Jimka and H. Semwal and A. Guha and H. Chorsi and K. Keus and B. A. Madruga and A. J. Silva and A. K. Churchland and P. Golshani and D. Aharoni},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.05.745822},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.05.745822v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Miniscope Zero: a fully wireless, single-cell-resolution miniature microscope for imaging neural dynamics in freely behaving animals
AU - T. Sasatani
AU - M. Brosch
AU - Z. Dong
AU - J. Saunders
AU - P. Zhao
AU - M. Sehgal
AU - L. T. Oesch
AU - F. Sangiuliano Jimka
AU - H. Semwal
AU - A. Guha
AU - H. Chorsi
AU - K. Keus
AU - B. A. Madruga
AU - A. J. Silva
AU - A. K. Churchland
AU - P. Golshani
AU - D. Aharoni
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/05
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.05.745822
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.05.745822v1
AB - Imaging neural fluorescence dynamics during unconstrained behavior remains a major challenge in neuroscience. Head-mounted miniature one-photon microscopes enable in vivo recordings from freely behaving animals. Still, their power and data requirements typically necessitate tethers or heavy batteries, which constrain experiments and may introduce behavioral artifacts. We present Miniscope Zero, a fully wireless miniature microscope platform combining quasistatic cavity resonance (QSCR) wireless power transfer with a high-bandwidth optical data link. The system delivers >500 mW of receiver power across a 2,500 cm2 behavioral arena and streams imaging data at 8 Mbps, supporting real-time data acquisition. Miniscope Zero provides a typical field of view of 600 m x 600 m and a 2.6-fold higher light-collection efficiency than the UCLA Miniscope v4. We demonstrate wireless CA1 GCaMP6f recordings during open-field navigation, enclosed-maze exploration, simultaneous multi-animal imaging, and extended three-dimensional behavior, enabling long-duration cellular-resolution imaging without tether-induced constraints.
ER -