CereStim API - groupStimulus
groupStimulus is a fairly useful command in Cerestim APIs, that is described on page 44 of the IFU attached below:
groupStimulus allows the end user to send stimulations on multiple channels at once, using only a single command. Since this command is only a single line, it significantly reduces the latency required to program the Cerestim while still maintaining a high number of stimulations.
A comparison of what groupStimulus can do vs how it would appear as separate commands is below:
beginGroup()
autoStim(1,1)
autoStim(2,2)
autoStim(3,3)
autoStim(4,4)
endGroup()
Versus using groupStimulus:
groupStimulus(1, 1, 1, 4, [1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 2, 3, 4])
Since groupStimulus only takes one line and ~6ms to program, versus each autoStim taking it's own line and ~4ms, we cut down from roughly 16-20ms of latency to only 6ms.
Attached to this KB article is a MATLAB stimMEX script that demonstrates a few more uses for groupStimulus, including running groupStimulus on a 10ms looping delay, and running groupStimulus back-to-back to verify the programming time for two stimulation attempts.
Related Articles
CereStim API - Multi-Device Control
INTRODUCTION: StimMEX, the MATLAB based API for controlling the CereStim 96, can be programmed to operate multiple CereStim devices at the same time. This allows for a greater degree of control over multiple CereStims compared to Blackrock’s ...Frequency Out of Range + Low Frequency Stimulation
The CereStim will claim its minimum frequency as 4 Hz, but there are many cases in which it will not allow the user to deliver a 4 Hz stimulation because the maximum value that can be held in memory is too long to get to that low of a frequency. It ...cbPy Getting Started Guide
The attached document gives you step-by-step instructions for installing cbPy, a Python API for real-time interfacing with Blackrock data acquisition systems, on either a Windows 10 or Linux operating system using the 3rd-party CereLink distribution ...Fast Settle Functionality
Stimulus delivery to recording electrodes or electrodes adjacent to the recording electrodes is likely to cause saturation with stimulation artifacts. Fast settle works to mitigate this, generally providing a shorter recovery from stimulation by ...