TI Workbench, an integrated software package for electrophysiology and imaging.

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Cell Biology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Cellular imaging and electrophysiology experiments require integrated control and analysis software.
• Existing software often lacks comprehensive functionality for combined imaging and electrophysiology.
• The development of specialized tools is crucial for advancing biological research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the TI Workbench software package, detailing its integrated control and analysis capabilities.
• To highlight the unique features and functionalities developed over 20 years of research.
• To showcase its utility in advanced cellular imaging and electrophysiological experiments.

Main Methods:

• TI Workbench integrates control of diverse imaging devices, from CCD cameras to multi-photon microscopes.
• It supports standard and specialized functions, including time-lapse multicolor fluorescence imaging, random-scan/raster-scan two-photon microscopy, and fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM).
• Data analysis modules for temporal waveforms, 2-D image data, and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) are integrated with acquisition functions.

Main Results:

• TI Workbench provides a unified platform for controlling imaging and electrophysiology equipment.
• It offers sophisticated data analysis tools, including digital filters and FCS analysis.
• A notebook function facilitates data organization, linking text, graphs, images, and movies to source files.

Conclusions:

• TI Workbench offers superior usability for combined imaging and electrophysiology experiments.
• Its comprehensive features and integration capabilities support advanced research in cellular biology and neuroscience.
• The software serves as a general-purpose data analysis package, compatible with various data formats and utilizing Igor Pro for publishing.