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YOU CAN 3D PRINT THE RIG THAT KEEPS A SLICE OF LIVING BRAIN ALIVE

A printed replacement for the perfusion chamber that keeps a slice of living brain tissue alive on the bench, for about 1.23 dollars of materials instead of a commercial system.

by Byun, Noh, Rhim and Noh

FULL CAD BOM FIRMWARE DOCS

ScienceOpen-hardware

Built with3D printing

difficulty
●●●●●
time
a weekend for the chamber; years for the method
license
CERN-OHL-S-2.0 (hardware), CC BY 4.0 (documentation)
repo
repo ACTIVE0 stars

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

1
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COMPAREE VERDICT

This is an open replacement for an expensive part of an acute slice electrophysiology rig: the submerged recording chamber that holds the tissue while it is perfused with oxygenated fluid at body temperature, plus the positioning stage and suction assembly. The authors validated it with field recordings from hippocampal slices of adult mice and published thermal data showing the bath reached its 36 °C setpoint within about three minutes. The print itself is straightforward PLA on any FDM machine. Note the limits the authors state: it was validated for field potential recordings at one perfusion rate, and the printed stage blocks the light path from below, so it is not compatible with standard upright IR-DIC microscopy or patch-clamp without redesigning the stage. The difficulty rating is not about the print — it is about the context: you need an existing electrophysiology setup (amplifier, microscope, micromanipulator, perfusion and heating), you need ethical approval for animal tissue work, and you need the skill to prepare and handle acute brain slices, which is a multi-year training path in a neuroscience laboratory. If you are already doing slice field recordings and want to replace a commercial chamber, this is a weekend project and the files are complete. If you are not, this is documentation of laboratory hardware, not a beginner build.

GOOD TO KNOW

  • —STEP files and print settings are on Zenodo; hardware is CERN-OHL-S-2.0.
  • —Documentation is CC BY 4.0 in the HardwareX paper.
  • —The BOM covers only the printed chamber, stage and suction parts — it does not include the amplifier, microscope, micromanipulator, perfusion pump, or slice preparation tools.
  • —The paper gives numbered build and assembly steps, and the Zenodo README lists fit checks for the M3 and M6 hardware.
  • —Validation data and thermal imaging results are published, but no community builds yet.
  • —Material cost (about 1.23 dollars) covers the printed parts and their small hardware; you still need the rest of the electrophysiology rig.

Parts to buy

7 items

From our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.

  • PLA filamentFind
  • Four M3 hex nutsFind
  • Four M3 × 25 mm pan head boltsFind
  • 24 × 50 mm cover glassFind
  • High-vacuum greaseFind
  • Needle-free IV administration set adapterFind
  • 23 G hypodermic needleFind

BUILDS OF THE WEEK

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Checked like this one: what’s really in the repo, what it costs, how hard it is. One email, unsubscribe anytime.

Can I build this?

PrintRecording chamber, tissue-positioning stage, suction assembly — all PLA, STEP files on Zenodo (export to STL in your slicer)
BuyPLA filament, four M3 hex nuts, four M3 × 25 mm pan head bolts, a 24 × 50 mm cover glass, high-vacuum grease, a needle-free IV administration set adapter, a 23 G hypodermic needle, an M6 × 25 mm socket head cap screw and two M6 nuts; everything else (amplifier, microscope, micromanipulator, perfusion pump, slice prep tools) if you do not already own an electrophysiology rig
ToolsFDM 3D printer, plus the full acute slice electrophysiology setup — none of which is documented here
SkillsFDM printing is beginner-level; preparing and recording from acute brain slices is a postgraduate research skill that takes years to learn in a laboratory
TimeA few hours to print and assemble the chamber; the method itself is not a weekend project
CostLow for the chamber, stage and suction parts (about 1.23 dollars of materials including fasteners and cover glass); high if you need to build the rest of the rig from nothing
SafetyAnimal tissue work requires institutional ethical approval and laboratory biosafety training. For the chamber itself, the paper warns that the high-vacuum grease contains silicone oil (keep it away from your eyes) and that the cover glass is fragile, so tighten the M3 bolts only as far as needed; the suction assembly also uses a 23 G hypodermic needle, so handle it as a sharp.

Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.

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Gallery

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Start here

Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.

  1. 1.Read the HardwareX paper (The full context, validation data and figures are there)
  2. 2.Download the STEP files and print settings from Zenodo (All three modules with print settings documented)
  3. 3.Print in PLA with the settings in the paper(Standard FDM in PLA (0.2 mm layers, 220 °C nozzle, 60 °C bed); the paper says no supports are needed, while the Zenodo print notes say supports are partially required — check each part in your slicer.)
  4. 4.Assemble the stage and suction line per the figures(No separate assembly guide; follow the paper diagrams)

KNOWN ISSUES

  • This is not a complete electrophysiology rig — it replaces only the chamber, stage and suction parts. You still need an amplifier, microscope, micromanipulator, perfusion system and all the slice preparation tools.
  • Animal tissue work requires institutional ethical approval. The validation was done in a licensed laboratory; you cannot just start working with brain slices at home.
  • The 1.23 dollars covers the printed parts and the small hardware in the bill of materials (fasteners, cover glass, grease, IV adapter, needle). The amplifier, microscope, micromanipulator, perfusion and heating equipment are not included and cost far more.
  • No community builds are public yet — this is a 2026 publication and you are an early adopter if you make one.
  • Check the printed fits before assembly — the M3 nuts must seat fully and the M6 screw must pass the suction body without binding; reprint with ±0.1 mm tolerance if not.
  • Acute slice preparation and recording is a multi-year skill. If you do not already know how to do it, this hardware will not teach you.

Is this a complete brain slice recording system?

No. This is the chamber, stage and suction assembly only. You need an amplifier, microscope, micromanipulator, perfusion pump, and all the slice preparation equipment separately.

Can I use this for teaching or home experiments?

Not without institutional approval. Working with animal tissue requires ethical clearance and laboratory biosafety training.

What printer settings do I use?

PLA at 0.2 mm layer height, 220 °C nozzle and 60 °C bed, default infill — the full settings are in the README on Zenodo.

How much does a commercial chamber cost?

The paper says commercial recording chambers frequently cost more than several thousand dollars, and are often sold bundled with proprietary heaters, temperature controllers and perfusion manifolds. This design replaces only the chamber, stage and suction parts and works with standard heaters and controllers you may already have.

Has anyone outside the original lab built this?

Not that we can find — the paper came out in 2026 and there are no public community build logs yet.

Community builds

No community builds yet — be the first, we feature the best ones.

Discussion1

FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM

Material cost is 1.23 dollars, and the thermal imaging showed even perfusate distribution within three minutes. If you are already doing slice work, what would make you switch from your current chamber?

CompareeTEAM1mo agoedited

Practical notes from our verification: the files are on Zenodo exactly as described, the hardware licence (CERN-OHL-S-2.0) is strongly reciprocal so any modifications must be shared under the same terms, and the paper is unusually honest about what this replaces and what it does not — it is three printed parts of a much larger system, not a standalone rig. The single biggest thing to know before you start: if you do not already own an electrophysiology setup and the training to use it, this is documentation of laboratory hardware, not a maker build. The figures are clear, but there is no assembly video and no community validation yet. Correction (4 October 2026): we re-checked this page line by line against the project's own repository, documentation and videos, and fixed errors in earlier versions.

Byun, Noh, Rhim and Noh

A team at Dankook University in Korea published this in HardwareX to make acute slice electrophysiology accessible to laboratories that cannot afford commercial perfusion chambers. They validated it with real recordings from adult mouse hippocampal slices and published the thermal characterisation data.

Web

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  • Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
  • Building and operating any project is at your own responsibility. Protective equipment, safe workshop practice and compliance with local regulations are the builder’s responsibility.
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