.. _user-manual-headgear: R2 headgear ========================= Chronic implants with silicon probes are fragile and require a protective structure (headgear) around them. Headgear provides: * a **physical barrier** to protect the implant site and microdrives/probes from animals and debris, * a **physical frame** to secure the high-density connectors (or headstages for Neuropixels and mini amps for Cambridge Neurotech probes) and decouple them mechanically from the microdrives, * (optional) A Faraday cage to improve recorded signals (less important nowadays when using neural data acquisition systems that digitize the signal very close to the electrode), * (optional) The possibility to implement head fixation of the animals. Traditionally, headgear has been constructed manually with copper mesh and dental cement during surgery (`Vandecasteele et al., 2012 `__). The rat and mouse cap, on the other hand, have been designed so that they are constructed before the surgery from 3D printed parts. Such a construction is more flexible while saving significant surgery time. In addition, the mouse/rat cap are relatively easy to disassemble and reassemble, making it significantly easier to recover and reuse silicon probes in multiple experiments. Finally, the mouse/rat cap have been designed in conjunction with the other R2 system components for an integrated implantation and explantation experience. .. toctree:: :hidden: :maxdepth: 2 :titlesonly: mouse_cap/index rat_cap/index