Stereotaxic manipulator with retrofitted linear scales and digital display device

A stereotaxic manipulator system for providing digital displays of orthogonal locations of an instrument tip during a procedure on an animal being held by a stereotaxic holder, comprising:

• (a) a manipulator base which can be affixed to a stereotaxic holder;
• (b) an instrument attachment component which can be moved in a controlled manner along each of three orthogonal axes, by motion of interacting manipulator components;
• (iii) at least three linear measuring systems, each comprising an electronic reader head mounted adjacent to a linear scaling device, in a manner which causes relative motion of the reader head with respect to the scaling device during operation of the manipulator system,
• wherein the three linear measuring systems are oriented in a manner which effectively provides linear measurements along each of three orthogonal axes, and,
• wherein each reader head is designed to generate electronic signals which (i) are correlated, at each moment during a procedure on an animal, with its position along its adjacent linear scaling device, to a resolution of about 20 microns or less, and (ii) can be converted to digital signals that can be processed and displayed by a digital display device.

A method for providing a stereotaxic manipulator with electronic components capable of digitally displaying location data for an instrument during a procedure on an animal, comprising the following steps:

• a. securely affixing, to at least two components of a sliding base of the manipulator, a first scaling device and a first reader head, in a manner which causes relative motion of the first scaling device with respect to the first reader head during operation of the manipulator slide;
• b. securely affixing, to at least two components of a vertical arm of the manipulator, a second scaling device and a second reader head, in a manner which causes relative motion of the second scaling device with respect to the second reader head during operation of the vertical arm;
• and,
• c. securely affixing, to at least two components of a horizontal arm of the manipulator, a third scaling device and a third reader head, in a manner which causes relative motion of the third scaling device with respect to the third reader head during operation of the horizontal arm,
• wherein each reader head is capable of emitting electronic signals that can be processed electronically to create digital displays of location data that vary during a procedure on an animal.