Knowledge Base

What's New in DanioVision

DanioVision Observation Chamber

For Users of DanioVision DVOC-0040

The white light LED array has been improved. The white light can be set to higher intensity.

For Users of DanioVision DVOC-0030

The housing has been completely redesigned. You open the observation chamber by tilting the lid along the top side. This way you have easier access to the camera and opening/closing the lid produces less vibration.

Note: The DanioVision Observation Chamber is designed to block light from the outside. However, it cannot be guaranteed that it is completely dark inside the chamber. For experiments that require absolute darkness (like experiments with day-night rhythms), place the DVOC in a dark room.

The housing is now larger to create more space for accessing the video camera or adding devices. For this purpose, the housing can be disassembled more easily than before.

The basin has been redesigned. It has now a more flexible retainer that can hold a wider range of well plates. DanioVision can now work with ANSI, SBS compatible micro plates (L = 127.76 ± 0.5 mm, W = 85.48 ± 0.5 mm) with a maximum height of 27 mm, and with Petri dishes with a diameter up to 90 mm. To place small well plates and Petri dishes, slide the bridge to a new position in such a way that the well plate/Petri dish is in the middle of the camera view.

The mechanism for moving the Fresnel lens located above the well plate has been improved. You can now move the lens all the way out of the camera view when you need to place containers higher than 27 mm.

Communication between DanioVision and EthoVision XT has improved via a new version of the hardware interface software.

All four TTL lines TTL 1 to TTL 4 are available for communication with external devices. For connecting custom hardware, additional expansion connectors are available.

The white light is now dimmable at very low intensity, without the need to operate the low light switch located behind the camera.

The DanioVision Tapping Device has been designed to provide DanioVision with a reliable device which evokes a startle response in zebrafish larvae.

Note: The DanioVision Tapping Device is a separate add-on to the DanioVision system.

For Users of DanioVision DVOC-002x

• The DanioVision camera is now a Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) digital camera connected to the EthoVision XT computer through a 1-Gb Ethernet card. With a GigE camera, tracking can be done with a higher sample rate and higher resolution.
• The intensity of the infrared LED back-lighting has been increased. This results in a more even distribution of back-lighting over the well plate and a higher contrast between animals and the background, making it easier to configure the detection settings.
• It is possible to use very low light levels for the DanioVision white light in addition to the default, standard white light levels. The standard white light levels range from ± 20 to ± 10000 lux. The low white light levels range from 0 to ± 20 lux.
• The anti-condensation mechanism can now be easily switched on and off, or set to automatic. The anti-condensation mechanism prevents the lens from condensing during an experiment.

EthoVision XT

The following lists the main additions relevant to DanioVision. For a complete list of new features, see the EthoVision XT Help "What's New" section.

For Users of EthoVision XT 15

• Improved Subject Contour Filter: In the Detection Settings, a second Erosion filter is added to the Subject Contour settings. This filter is added after the pre-existing Erosion and Dilation, and improves detection in some difficult situations. For more information, see Advanced Detection Settings: Subject Contour in the EthoVision XT Help.
• Trial Control Variable in the Analysis: In the Analysis profile you can now select the Trial Control variables used in the Trial Control protocols. This allows you to analyze or visualize its values just like other dependent variables. You can also visualize a Trial Control variable in the Integrated Visualization for testing purposes, for example, to check that a variable gets the expected value at a specific time in the trial.

Note: The deep learning functionality in EthoVision XT 16 is not designed specifically to track fish larvae. In DanioVision experiments, always choose Contour-based as the body point detection technique.

For Users of EthoVision XT 14

• Heatmaps with Time Scale: Heatmaps are plotted together with a time scale. This helps you quantify the time that subjects spend in specific locations.

Source: DanioVision DVOC-0041 Reference Manual, Noldus Information Technology