High-speed CCD movie camera with random pixel selection, for neurobiology research

We have designed and built a CCD camera capable of producing movies at over 1000 frames per second. For maximum frame rate, we have incorporated the ability to digitize only the pixels of interest, user-selectable from a custom LabView interface. With a resolution of 64x64 pixels, the system is intended to bridge the gap between fast, small photodiode arrays, and slow, high-resolution scientific CCD cameras. The system was designed for imaging neurons labeled with voltage-sensitive dyes, to allow the simultaneous recording of neural activity in a large number of neurons, or to probe the membrane voltage at many different points of a single neuron.