Application of 3D Printing Technology to Produce Hippocampal Customized Guide Cannulas

Maria Rosaria Tropea and colleagues in the labs of Daniela Puzzo and Walter Gulisano at the University of Catania developed an affordable and customizable solution for the fabrication of implantable cannulae for mice. The authors describe the step-by-step of designing, “slicing”, and printing the head mounts incorporating a made-in-house linear-motion cutting apparatus, used for cutting the cannula tubes. Their paper reports evidence of the successful use of the device for recording neural activity during an object recognition task and includes histological evidence for implantation accuracy and tissue damage. 

The design files are available through the peer-reviewed paper on the device (Extended Data, available on the eNeuro website), and they have also been uploaded to our 3D-printing repository for easy access and long-term archiving. 

This research tool was created by your colleagues. Please acknowledge the Principal Investigator, cite the article in which the tool was described, and include an RRID in the Materials and Methods of your future publications. RRID: SCR_023941