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    			BlueSpike

Neural Data Acquisition and Online Spike Processing Software

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BlueSpike is an electrophysiology tool to perform real-time data 
acquisition, visualization and sorting of neuronal spikes. It 
continuously acquires data every 1 ms and realizes digital signal 
processing on retrieved data. 

KernelSpike:
* is a kernel module.
* provides data acquisition and signal processing every 1 ms. 
* currently supports one data acquisition card with 16 channel 
  (i.e. NI-6070E) with a sampling rate of 40 KHz per channel.
* realizes 2nd or 4th order Butterworth digital high-pass 
  filtering (cut-off 150 Hz) which is managed by SpikeViewer.
* performs spike detection process on every channel. The threshold 
  parameter for spikes is adjusted by using SpikeViewer.
* performs spike sorting (currently only template matching) which 
  is managed by using SpikeSorter.
 
SpikeViewer:
* runs in user-space.
* starts/stops of data recording for raw and sorted data. The file 
  name is generated automatically according to the starting time 
  of the recording. It also appends a user defined phrase to the 
  data file name. 
* visualizes the neuronal activity related to the selected channel 
  with a refresh rate of 10 fps. 
* submits threshold parameter for spike detection which is 
  performed by KernelSpike. 
* turns on/off 2nd and 4th order digital high-pass filters. 
* visualizes detected spikes related to the selected channel.

SpikeSorter:
* runs in user-space.
* turns on/off spike sorting.
* supports up to 3 spikes per channel.  
* enables selection of spikes using mouse on spike viewing window 
  (top-left graph) to obtain a spike template for template matching 
  algorithm. The determined spike template is later on plotted on 
  the selected spike unit window. (Note: Before selecting the 
  spikes by drawing a rectangle on spike viewing window, the 
  visualization should be paused by clicking on Pause button.) 
* submits the difference parameter (Diff) for each unit to adjust 
  the specificity of template matcher. 
* visualizes the sorted spikes on the related unit window. The 
  non-sorted spikes appear on non-sorted spike window (top-right 
  graph).

ChannelReviewer:
* runs in user-space.
* visualizes multiple spike channels with a refresh rate of 10 fps. 
* is especially useful during implantation of microwire arrays to 
  ensure placement microwire array in the targeted brain structure.

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Dependencies:

This tool 

RTAI(www.rtai.org):
* works on an RTAI-Linux platform and uses RTAI libraries.
* is developed on Linux Kernel-2.6.29.4 with RTAI-3.7.1.

COMEDI(www.comedi.org):
* uses COMEDI libraries for real-time data acquisition.
* is developed by using comedi-0.7.76 & comedilib-0.8.1 
* is developed by using National-Instruments NI-6070E data 
  acquisition card.

GtkDatabox (http://sourceforge.net/projects/gtkdatabox/)
* uses GtkDatabox libraries for visualization of retrieved data.
* is developed by using GtkDatabox-0.9.9.1