Description:

ephyslink 1.3.3

Electrophysiology Manipulator Link







The Electrophysiology Manipulator Link
(or Ephys Link for short) is a Python Socket.IO server that allows any
Socket.IO-compliant application (such
as Pinpoint)
to communicate with manipulators used in electrophysiology experiments.
Supported Manipulators:



Manufacturer
Model




Sensapex
uMp-4 uMp-3


New Scale
Pathfinder MPM Control v2.8+ M3-USB-3:1-EP



Ephys Link is an open and extensible platform. It is designed to easily support integration with other manipulators.
For more information regarding the server's implementation and how the code is organized, see
the package's development documentation.
For detailed descriptions of the server's API, see
the API reference.
Installation
Prerequisites

An x86 Windows PC is required to run the server.
For Sensapex devices, the controller unit must be connected via an ethernet
cable and powered. A USB-to-ethernet adapter is acceptable. For New Scale manipulators,
the controller unit must be connected via USB and be powered by a 6V power
supply.
To use the emergency stop feature, ensure an Arduino with
the StopSignal sketch is
connected to the computer. Follow the instructions on that repo for how to
set up the Arduino.

NOTE: Ephys Link is an HTTP server without cross-origin support. The server
is currently designed to interface with local/desktop instances of Pinpoint. It
will not work with the web browser versions of Pinpoint at this time.
Launch from Pinpoint (Recommended)
Pinpoint comes bundled with the correct version of Ephys Link. If you are using Pinpoint on the same computer your
manipulators are connected to, you can launch the server from within Pinpoint. Follow the instructions in
the Pinpoint documentation.
Install as Standalone Executable

Download the latest executable from
the releases page.
Double-click the executable file to launch the configuration window.

Take note of the IP address and port. Copy this information into Pinpoint to connect.


Select the desired configuration and click "Launch Server".

The configuration window will close and the server will launch. Your configurations will be saved for future use.
To connect to the server from Pinpoint, provide the IP address and port. For example, if the server is running on the
same computer that Pinpoint is, use

Server: localhost
Port: 8081

If the server is running on a different (local) computer, use the IP address of that computer as shown in the startup
window instead of localhost.
Install as a Python package
pip install ephys-link

Import the modules you need and launch the server.
from ephys_link.server import Server

server = Server()
server.launch("sensapex", args.proxy_address, 8081)

Install for Development


Clone the repository.


Install Hatch


In a terminal, navigate to the repository's root directory and run
hatch shell



This will create a virtual environment, install Python 12 (if not found), and install the package in editable mode.
If you encounter any dependency issues (particularly with aiohttp), try installing the latest Microsoft Visual C++
(MSVC v143+ x86/64) and the Windows SDK (10/11)
via Visual Studio Build Tools Installer.
Documentation and More Information
Complete documentation including API usage and development installation can be
found on the Virtual Brain Lab Documentation page for Ephys Link.
Citing
If this project is used as part of a research project you should cite
the Pinpoint repository. Please email
Dan (dbirman@uw.edu) if you have questions.
Please reach out to Kenneth (kjy5@uw.edu) for questions
about the Electrophysiology Manipulator Link server. Bugs may be reported
through the issues tab.

License

For personal and professional use. You cannot resell or redistribute these repositories in their original state.

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