A.M.P.I. Master-9 User manual

Master-9
Programmable
Pulse Stimulator
User Manual

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Thank you for purchasing Master-9 - the best pulse stimulator!
Master-9 is an advanced 9-channel pulse stimulator that offers many distinct and useful features.
Master-9 is user friendly, easy to learn, and simple to program using user-preprogrammed
paradigms.
Please read this manual carefully and familiar yourself with all of Master-9 unique and advanced
options.

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Table of Contents
1GENERAL........................................................................................................................................ 5
1.1 OUTPUTS ............................................................................................................................... 5
1.2 PARADIGMS (CHAPTER 11) ......................................................................................................... 5
1.3CONTROLLING THE MASTER-9 ..................................................................................................... 5
1.4 FIRMWARE UPGRADES .............................................................................................................. 6
1.5 RECORD AND REPLAY INPUT WAVEFORMS (CHAPTER 13) .................................................................... 6
1.6 COMBINED OUTPUTS:OUT A, B, AND C........................................................................................ 6
1.7 EXTERNAL INPUTS:IN 1, 2, AND 3(CHAPTER 8)............................................................................... 6
1.8 CLOCKS (CHAPTER 15)............................................................................................................... 6
2FRONT & REAR PANEL ................................................................................................................... 7
2.1 FRONT PANEL .......................................................................................................................... 7
2.2 REAR PANEL ............................................................................................................................ 7
3THE TOUCH-SCREEN....................................................................................................................... 8
3.1 THE PARAMETERS OF THE CHANNELS ............................................................................................. 8
3.2 THE MANUAL TRIG KEYS ............................................................................................................ 9
3.3 THE CONNECTION TABLE............................................................................................................ 9
3.4 THE PARADIGM KEY .................................................................................................................. 9
3.5 THE VER KEY .......................................................................................................................... 9
3.6 THE CLOCK KEY ........................................................................................................................ 9
4OPERATING MODES......................................................................................................................10
4.1 SETTING THE OPERATING MODES .................................................................................................10
5SETTING PARAMETERS .................................................................................................................11
5.1 THE PARAMETERS ....................................................................................................................11
5.2 SETTING THE TIME PARAMETERS..................................................................................................11
5.3 SETTING THE "N" PARAMETER ....................................................................................................12
5.4 SETTING THE "V" AND "V"(ΔV STEPS)PARAMETERS .......................................................................12
6APPLICATIONS ..............................................................................................................................13
7THE CONNECTION TABLE ..............................................................................................................14
8TRIGGERING .................................................................................................................................15
8.1 MANUAL TRIGGERING ..............................................................................................................15
8.2 SETTING THE INTERNAL CONNECTIONS ..........................................................................................15
9THE EXTERNAL TRIGGER INPUTS...................................................................................................16
10 DISPLAYING OTHER CHANNELS.....................................................................................................17
10.1 DISPLAYING OTHER CHANNELS ....................................................................................................17
10.2 ELIMINATING CHANNELS FROM THE SCREEN VIEW ............................................................................17
10.3 ERASING ALL PARAMETERS OF A CHANNEL......................................................................................17
11 NINE STORED PARADIGMS ...........................................................................................................18
11.1 SWITCHING TO ANOTHER PARADIGM ............................................................................................18
11.2 COPYING PARADIGMS ..............................................................................................................18
11.3 CLEARING PARADIGMS .............................................................................................................18

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12 DEMONSTRATION OF PROGRAMMING MASTER-9....................................................................... 19
13 CHANNEL 9: REPLAYING EXTERNAL WAVEFORMS........................................................................ 22
13.1 THE RUN MODE .................................................................................................................... 22
13.2 THE MEM MODE ................................................................................................................... 22
13.3 WAVEFORM AS EXCEL FILE ........................................................................................................ 22
13.3.1 Setting a waveform as Excel file: ................................................................................... 22
13.3.2 Long waveforms, up to 32K points ................................................................................ 22
13.3.3 Downloading the waveform from the PC to Master-9.................................................... 23
13.3.4 Running the saved waveform........................................................................................ 23
13.4 RECORD AND DELIVER A WAVEFORM FROM AN EXTERNAL SOURCE ....................................................... 25
13.4.1 Record a waveform from an external source ................................................................. 25
13.4.2 The SAVE key ................................................................................................................ 25
13.4.3 Replay the saved waveform .......................................................................................... 25
14 COMMUNICATION WITH A PC...................................................................................................... 26
15 CLOCKS......................................................................................................................................... 27
15.1 THE CLOCK (CLK)................................................................................................................... 27
15.2 THE STOPWATCH (SW)............................................................................................................ 27

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1General
Master-9 is a 9-channel pulse stimulator designed for nerve and muscle stimulation procedures
and a broad range of neurophysiological stimulation requirements.
1.1 Outputs
Each channel delivers repetitive, single, train or twin outputs. The outputs can be set to
monophasic and biphasic pulses and ramp outputs.
All channels can be operated independently of each other, or synchronized to produce simple and
complex pulse patterns.
You can use some channels to stimulate your preparation, while using other channels to trigger
other instruments (oscilloscope, PC, etc.) in synchronization with the stimulation.
1.2 Paradigms (chapter 11)
Master-9 stores nine user-preprogrammed experiments (paradigms). Each paradigm can use all
nine channels. You can easily switch your setup to the selected paradigm.
This feature is very useful in the following cases:
When the current protocol requires modifications during the course of the experiment. You
can preset the modifications in different paradigms and then switch between the experiments
easily.
When several users of a setup run different experiments. Each user can retrieve his specific
settings from the Master-9 memory.
All parameters of the 9 paradigms are stored in the memory even after the power is switched off.
1.3 Controlling the Master-9
You can control the Master-9 as follows:
1. As a standalone unit –via its touch screen
2. Via your PC –using our MASTER-9 CONTROL software
3. From within your own application –using the Master-9 SDK
1. Controlling Master-9 via the touchscreen (chapter 3):
The touchscreen (TS) on the front panel displays all modes of operation and time parameters,
as well as a table of the internal connections between channels. You can set the channel
parameters by touching the TS with your finger or any stylus pen or standard pen. Do not
touch the screen with ink or sharp tools!

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2. Controlling Master-9 via your PC, using our MASTER-9 CONTROL software:
You can see and modify all the parameters directly on your PC monitor using the MASTER-9
CONTROL Software.
Scheduler: The Scheduler is another powerful feature of this software. This tool allows you to
set a series of events to occur at scheduled times, such as triggering channels, switching
paradigms, modifying time parameters, etc.
3. Controlling Master-9 from within your own application (Master-9 SDK):
You can also program and control your experiment from within your own application or
software (LabView, Matlab, VBScript, etc.). Using the Master-9 SDK (Software
Development Kit) you can easily access all instructions of Master-9 in real-time from your
application or software, providing real-time feedback from your preparation.
1.4 Firmware Upgrades
Master-9 can be upgraded at any time with our firmware upgrades.
From time to time, be sure to check our website for new upgrades. Downloading and upgrading
your Master-9 is free of charge.
1.5 External Waveforms
Channel 9 can save external waveforms in two ways:
1. You can set an Excel file with the desired waveform and download it to channel 9 via the
USB cable.
2. Channel 9 can record input waveforms (such as action potential, sine wave, etc.). The
waveform can be recorded from an external source via the IN9 input. The waveform is saved
in the memory of channel 9.
The saved waveform can be replayed in all the operational modes –FREE-RUN, TRIG, TRAIN,
and TWIN modes.
1.6 Combined outputs: OUT A, B, and C
Using the connection table you can connect any combination of channels 1 - 9 to each other and to
each of the outputs A, B, and C. This way you can have complex patterns through a single output.
1.7 External inputs: IN 1, 2, and 3 (chapter 8)
Channels 1, 2 and 3 can receive external trigger inputs through the IN 1, 2, 3 inputs. This enables
the synchronization of channels with external devices.
1.8 Clocks (chapter 15)
In addition to its 9 channels, Master-9 features 2 internal clocks. The first counts the time in seconds up to
24 hours, while the other counts time in tenths of seconds, up to 1 hour.

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2Front & Rear Panel
Figure 1
2.1 Front panel
The front panel consists of the following sections (see Figure 1):
Power Switch - located on the left side of the front panel.
Touchscreen (TS) - where the Master-9 parameters can be viewed and modified (Chapter 3).
Backlight switch - turns the TS backlight on & off..
Stylus pen - located at the bottom of the Master-9, under the power switch.
USB interface –used for:
Communicating and programming of the Master-9 by using a computer (Chapter 14).
Upgrading the Master-9 (firmware upgrades, Chapter 14).
Input section. The input section has 4 BNC sockets:
IN 1, 2, 3 inputs are used to externally trigger channels 1, 2 and 3 (Chapter 9).
IN 9 is an analog input for the recording channel 9 (Chapter 13).
Output Section:
a. Enable/Disable Switch - enables/disables all outputs of Master-9. This switch is useful
for cases where immediate stop of the stimulation is required. Make sure that this switch
is set to ENABLE.
b. 12 output BNC sockets and LEDs- Each of the 9 channels has an output BNC socket
and a LED that indicates the channel activity. There are 3 additional outputs A, B and C
for output combinations of the 9 channels.
2.2 Rear panel
The rear panel contains a switch to connect or disconnect the ground to/from the chassis.
This switch can be used to reduce the noise level of the system.

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3The Touch-Screen
When the Master-9 is turned on, the following screen is displayed:
Figure 2
3.1 The parameters of the channels
The screen is divided vertically:
The right side of the screen displays the parameters of channels 1, 2, 3 and 4.
The definition column is displayed to the left of channel 1. This definition column defines the
heading of each row, as follows:
1. #- The top row shows the channel number.
2. M -Mode: The 2nd row defines the channel operating mode (see Chapter 4).
3. D - Duration: The 3rd row defines the pulse duration (see Chapter 5, figure 3) - the time that
elapses from the onset of the output pulse to its end.
4. L –deLay: The 4th row defines the delay time - the time that elapses from the beginning of
the input trigger to the beginning of the output pulse.
5. Interval: The 5th row defines the Interval time - the time that elapses between the beginning
of a pulse and the beginning of the following pulse (interval = 1/rate).
6. N –Number: The 6th row defines the number of pulses per train in the TRAIN mode.
7. V –Volt: The 7th row defines the pulse amplitude in volts.
8. S –Shape: The 8th row defines the shape of the pulse: Monopolar, Bipolar or Ramp.
9. v –ΔV: The 9th row defines the ΔV increment or decrement voltage steps, if applied.
Example: In Figure 2 above you see that each of the channels (1, 2, 3, 4) is in its default values as
follows: Set to OFF mode, duration time is set to D=1.0 msec. Delay time is set to L=0 µsec,

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Interval time I=200 msec, N=5 pulses per TRAIN, V=10V, S=monophasic pulses, and v=0 -
meaning there are no voltage steps.
The screen displays 4 channels at a time, although all channels are operational as set. You can
choose which channels to display (Chapter 9).
3.2 The Manual Trig keys
The bottom line of the touch-screen contains the "1","2","3","4","5","6","7","8","9" keys.
These are the manual trig keys, which are used to manually trigger each individual channel.
3.3 The Connection Table
The left side of the screen displays the connection table. At the moment (as seen in figure 2
above), there are no connections between channels (see Chapter 7).
3.4 The Paradigm key
The Paradigm key is located above the connection table. It displays "P1", meaning that paradigm
#1 is currently running. Switch paradigms by pressing this key (Chapter 10).
3.5 The VER key
The VER key is located under the connection table. Pressing the VER key shows the current
version of the Master-9 (see Chapter 14). The VER key is also used for touchscreen calibration.
3.6 The Clock key
The Clock key is located under the VER key. Press this key to view and set the clock or stopwatch
(see Chapter 15).

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4Operating Modes
Each of the 9 channels can operate in any of the following operating modes:
FREE-RUN - The channel delivers pulses continuously according to the programmed Duration
and Interval times. The channel is independent of the other channels.
TRAIN - Following a trigger, the channel delivers a train of N pulses according to the
programmed Delay, Duration and Interval times and the N parameter.
TRIG - Following a trigger, the channel delivers a single pulse according to the programmed
Delay and Duration times.
TWIN - Following a trigger, the channel delivers a pair of pulses according to the programmed
Delay, Duration and Interval times.
GATE - The channel delivers pulses continuously while it is gated (externally or internally from
the other channels). When the input stops, the channel deactivates. A new input reactivates the
channel.
DC - The channel is time-independent and can be turned on and off manually by pressing its
Manual Trig key.
4.1 Setting the operating modes
To set the mode of operation of a channel, first press the selected mode key and then choose the
desired mode.
Example 1: Setting channel #1 to the FREE-RUN mode:
1. Press M1 –(Row M Column 1 - This is the MODE of channel 1 - now OFF).
2. A new menu appears. You can choose any mode of operation for channel #1.
3. Press “FREE”. Channel #1 now delivers pulses continuously according to the set duration
(now 1 msec.) and interval times (now 200 msec).
Example 2: Setting channel #2 to TRAIN mode:
1. Press M2 –(the mode of channel 2 - now OFF). Press “TRAIN”.
2. Channel #2 is now in the TRAIN mode. You can trigger it externally, manually or internally
by the other channels (see Chapter 9).
3. Trigger it manually by pressing the "2" manual trigger key (at the bottom of the screen).
4. Channel #2 delivers a TRAIN of N=5 pulses.
Example 3: Setting channel #3 to DC mode:
Press M3, and then press “DC”. Channel #3 is now in the DC mode. It is time-independent and
delivers a continuous DC output. You can manually stop and start the output by pressing the "3"
manual trig key.
Example 4: Turning channel # 3 off: Press M3 (now DC) then press “OFF”.