Polaris on macOS 10.13 High Sierra

If you are using macOS 10.13 High Sierra through macOS 10.15 Catalina (inclusive) and Brainsight does not recognise your Polaris camera, please check the following things:

  • open the Polaris Configuration window
  • does the ‘Polaris Status’ show ‘No serial ports found’? (Not some other message.)

If so, it could be that you did not grant access to the FTDI kernel extension (kext). Starting in macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Apple made a change that requires users to grant a one-time permission to kernel extensions. If you upgraded your Mac from 10.12 or earlier, and were successfully using your Polaris previously, permission should be automatically grandfathered. If you are using macOS 11 Big Sur or newer, the FTDI driver is now built-in to macOS, and none of this applies.

The prompt for permission looks like this:

After this message appears, you have only 30 minutes to visit Security Preferences and approve.  Look for something like below:

If you don’t do this before the 30 minutes elapses, the easiest way to be prompted again is as follows:

  • Open Terminal.app (not Console.app) to get a text prompt.
  • Enter the command “sudo kextload /Library/Extensions/FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext”, then enter the computer password at the prompt.
  • From the Apple menu, open “System Preferences”, select “Security & Privacy”, then click “General”.
  • Near the bottom you should see an “Allow” button, click it.
  • Reboot the computer.

Fortunately, you need only grant permission once, and never again.

Polaris on macOS 10.13 High Sierra Read More »

Brainsight 2.3.9 is released for all users

We are happy to announce the release of Brainsight 2.3.9.

Before proceeding with this update, please read the following important information.

Minimum requirements:

  • Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks or later is required. For a free update, visit <https://www.apple.com/macos/how-to-upgrade/>. Contact us if you need to upgrade your Mac hardware.
  • This version of Brainsight was tested against OS X 10.11.6 (El Capitan), 10.12.6 (Sierra), and 10.13.3 (High Sierra).
  • We will not be supporting 10.9 and 10.10 for much longer, and no longer test them; if you still use either, please upgrade.

Special note:

  • On macOS 10.13 High Sierra, if your Polaris is not detected, go to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Security&Privacy > General and look for an “Allow” button.

Changes since version 2.3.8:

  • Added an option to snap sample locations to a reconstruction when exporting session data to a Brainsight .txt file.Coil Projection to Cortex
  • Added an option in Vet Robot subject registration to remove laser grid landmarks that did not correctly snap to the skull reconstruction.
  • Fixed a bug where scrolling through 2D slices with the mouse wheel would sometimes incorrectly show blank slices.
  • Fixed a bug where clicking a 3D MPR view failed to move the crosshairs to the clicked location.
  • Fixed a bug where exporting landmark information to a .txt file would result in nonsense values for any landmark that wasn’t used as part of the subject registration.
  • Fixed miscellaneous bugs.

Download:

  • Brainsight 2.3.9 can be downloaded from our website here: <https://www.rogue-research.com/downloads>
  • You’ll need your serial number, which you can get from Brainsight itself from the Brainsight menu > ‘Enter/View Serial Number’.

Feedback:

  • Please report any and all bugs, feedback, suggestions, etc. to <support@rogue-research.com> or by phone at +1-866-984-3888 (Canada & USA) or +1-514-284-3888.

Thank you,

The Rogue Research Team

Brainsight 2.3.9 is released for all users Read More »

Brainsight 2.3.8 is released for all users

We are happy to announce the release of Brainsight 2.3.8.

Before proceeding with this update, please read the following important information.

Minimum requirements:

  • Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks or later is required. For a free update, visit <https://www.apple.com/macos/how-to-upgrade/>. Contact us if you need to upgrade your Mac hardware.
  • This version of Brainsight was tested against OS X 10.11.6 (El Capitan), 10.12.6 (Sierra), and 10.13.2 (High Sierra).
  • We will not be supporting 10.9 and 10.10 for much longer; if you still use either, please upgrade.

Special note:

  • On macOS 10.13 High Sierra, if your Polaris is not detected, go to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Security&Privacy > General and look for an “Allow” button.

Changes since version 2.3.7:

  • Simplified the Vet Robot stereo calibration procedure and improved its robustness and accuracy.
  • Fixed a rare bug where the Vet Robot subject registration laser grid visitation procedure could fail to start, or fail to complete.
  • Added a new feature to continuously export to a file the locations of Polaris trackers and calibrated tools, such as the TMS coil hotspot. One could then write a script that continuously reads this file to perform some custom actions.
  • Session information exported to the Brainsight .txt format can now include NIRS measurement list information, specifically which sources are connected to which detectors.  Assembly lists can now be created by importing such files.
  • Fixed a crash that could occur opening a Session window or the Session Review window.
  • Fixed crashes opening very large medical images files by refusing to open such files (larger than about 800 x 800 x 800 voxels).
  • Fixed miscellaneous bugs.

Download:

  • Brainsight 2.3.8 can be downloaded from our website here: <https://www.rogue-research.com/downloads>
  • You’ll need your serial number, which you can get from Brainsight itself from the Brainsight menu > ‘Enter/View Serial Number’.

Feedback:

  • Please report any and all bugs, feedback, suggestions, etc. to <support@rogue-research.com> or by phone at +1-866-984-3888 (Canada & USA) or +1-514-284-3888.

Thank you,

The Rogue Research Team

Brainsight 2.3.8 is released for all users Read More »

Brainsight 2.3.7 is released for all users

We are happy to announce the release of Brainsight 2.3.7.

Before proceeding with this update, please read the following important information.

Minimum requirements:

  • Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks or later is required. For a free update, visit <https://www.apple.com/macos/how-to-upgrade/>. Contact us if you need to upgrade your Mac hardware.
  • This version of Brainsight was tested against OS X 10.11.6 (El Capitan), 10.12.6 (Sierra), and 10.13.1 (High Sierra).
  • We will not be supporting 10.9 and 10.10 for much longer; if you still use either, please upgrade.

Changes since version 2.3.6:

  • Made many improvements for our new Vet Robot product.
  • Added a new feature in the NIRS Configuration window to perform laser source calibration. This procedure is only necessary if you have multiple sets of fibres and change from one to another.
  • Added a new popup menu near the bottom-left of the Session Perform window that shows the distance between the selected reconstruction and the current crosshairs position. This can be used, for example, to know the distance from the TMS coil to the cortex in realtime.
  • Fixed a bug where the ‘distance to reconstruction’ calculation available in various windows would be inaccurate for projects that were re-opened after their initial creation (but accurate for freshly created projects). In most instances, the inaccuracy was less than 1 mm.
  • Added a few new options to the preferences window: 1) preferred bullseye type (coil-centric or target-centric), 2) waveform view background grid colour, 3) 750 nm NIRS waveform colour, and 4) “Begin countdown” phrase for speech recognition.
  • The newest version of the FTDI device driver (2.4.2) is now installed (this controls communication with RS-232 serial devices like the Polaris camera and Magstim TMS stimulator).
  • The reconstruction+chamber clipping feature now applies the effect of the “3D Crop Tool” when clipping against curvilinear reconstructions (it was already doing this with surfaces).
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when exporting DICOM files.
  • Fixed a bug where toggling the visibility checkbox in a waveform view’s legend would not immediately toggle the channel’s visibility.
  • Fixed a bug where click-selecting an electrode/optode would unintentionally move the crosshairs too.
  • Fixed a bug where creating a new session by importing a file would display a spurious (but harmless) error message.
  • Fixed a bug where the crash reporter would fail to send crash reports if there was a large amount of information.
  • Fixed miscellaneous bugs.

Download:

  • Brainsight 2.3.7 can be downloaded from our website here: <https://www.rogue-research.com/downloads>
  • You’ll need your serial number, which you can get from Brainsight itself from the Brainsight menu > ‘Enter/View Serial Number’.

Feedback:

  • Please report any and all bugs, feedback, suggestions, etc. to <support@rogue-research.com> or by phone at +1-866-984-3888 (Canada & USA) or +1-514-284-3888.

Thank you,

The Rogue Research Team

Brainsight 2.3.7 is released for all users Read More »

Brainsight 2.3.6 is released for all users

We are happy to announce the release of Brainsight 2.3.6.

Before proceeding with this update, please read the following important information.

Minimum requirements:

  • Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks or later is required. For a free update, visit <https://www.apple.com/macos/how-to-upgrade/>. Contact us if you need to upgrade your Mac hardware.
  • This version of Brainsight was tested against OS X 10.10.5 (Yosemite), 10.11.6 (El Capitan), and 10.12.6 (Sierra).
  • We will not be supporting 10.9 and 10.10 for much longer; if you still use either, please upgrade.

Changes since version 2.3.5:

  • Made many improvements for our new Vet Robot product.
  • Fixed a long-standing bug where motor maps were shown in 2D views when they should never have been.
  • Fixed a bug where the option to use the Apple Remote was not available in the session window.
  • Fixed a bug where the count of how many voxels are painted in an ROI would sometimes be wrong.
  • IPv6 is now supported for all network devices we communicate with (Brainsight NIRS, Axilum Robotics TMS-Robot, neuroConn NEURO PRAX, Vet Robot).
  • Fixed a bug where the 3D crop tool did not always activate on the first use.
  • Fixed miscellaneous bugs.

Download:

  • Brainsight 2.3.6 can be downloaded from our website here: <https://www.rogue-research.com/downloads>
  • You’ll need your serial number, which you can get from Brainsight itself from the Brainsight menu > ‘Enter Serial Number’.

Feedback:

  • Please report any and all bugs, feedback, suggestions, etc. to <support@rogue-research.com> or by phone at +1-866-984-3888 (Canada & USA) or +1-514-284-3888.

Thank you,

The Rogue Research Team

Brainsight 2.3.6 is released for all users Read More »

Brainsight 2.3.5 is released for all users

We are happy to announce the release of Brainsight 2.3.5.

Before proceeding with this update, please read the following important information.

Minimum requirements:

  • Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks or later is required. For a free update, visit <https://www.apple.com/macos/how-to-upgrade/>. Contact us if you need to upgrade your Mac hardware.
  • This version of Brainsight was tested against OS X 10.10.5, 10.11.6, and 10.12.4 (Sierra).
  • We will not be supporting 10.9 for much longer; if you still use it, please upgrade.

Changes since version 2.3.4:

  • Added initial support for our new Vet Robot product.
  • Improved performance and responsiveness when dealing with large amounts of NIRS or EMG data. Previously, live NIRS and EMG views would always try to draw at 3 Hz, but now drawing speed is increased/decreased dynamically based on how busy the computer is.  So, smaller workloads will now draw much faster and more smoothly, while larger workloads will draw more slowly and choppily, but with the benefit that the computer should not become unworkably slow.
  • Opening a menu or popup menu no longer stops live drawing (of Polaris tool positions, EMG/NIRS waveforms, etc.)
  • The Session > Electrodes step now allows using the bullseye view to help position optodes/electrodes in the desired location.
  • Fixed a bug where inline/inline90/perpendicular views would appear much smaller than sagittal/coronal/transverse views for datasets with small (< 1 mm) voxel size.
  • The reconstruction+chamber clipping feature will now warn if either reconstruction or chamber mesh consists of more than one part, because the resulting output uses only the largest part of each.
  • Fixed a crash trying to open very large medical image files (as anatomical or overlay). Also improved performance dealing with such large files.
  • The sagittal view in the AC-PC-Box window now has the nose pointing left, like all the other sagittal views in other windows.
  • Fixed a long-standing (but merely cosmetic) bug where the edge-most voxel in all 2D and 3D slice views was a half voxel instead of a full voxel.
  • Fixed miscellaneous bugs.

Download:

  • Brainsight 2.3.5 can be downloaded from our website here: <https://www.rogue-research.com/downloads>
  • You’ll need your serial number, which you can get from Brainsight itself from the Brainsight menu > ‘Enter Serial Number’.

Feedback:

  • Please report any and all bugs, feedback, suggestions, etc. to <support@rogue-research.com> or by phone at +1-866-984-3888 (Canada & USA) or +1-514-284-3888.

Thank you,

The Rogue Research Team

Brainsight 2.3.5 is released for all users Read More »

Brainsight 2.3.4 is released for all users

We are happy to announce the release of Brainsight 2.3.4.

Before proceeding with this update, please read the following important information.

Minimum requirements:

  • Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks or later is required. For a free update, visit <https://www.apple.com/macos/how-to-upgrade/>. Contact us if you need to upgrade your Mac hardware.
  • This version of Brainsight was tested against OS X 10.10.5, 10.11.6, and 10.12.3 (Sierra).
  • We will not be supporting 10.9 for much longer; if you still use it, please upgrade.

Changes since version 2.3.3:

  • Numerous performance improvements in various places:
    • Improved 2D & 3D drawing performance in various places, especially with overlays on curvilinear reconstructions.
    • Better performance working with many landmarks or electrodes.
    • Faster region painting.
  • TTL triggers (ex: from our optional foot switch) can now be used during the coil/tool calibration procedure (useful for single operators).
  • Sample colour can now be changed from the Session Perform window.
  • Fixed a crash that could occur in the region paint window when choosing certain “isolation colours”.
  • Fixed various issues with the reconstruction+chamber clipping feature where it would previously sometimes hang, crash, or produce the wrong result.
  • Fixed a bug where electrode names would still be visible in 3D views even if the view was rotated such that they were in the back.
  • Fixed a bug where loading files with many electrodes would hang.
  • Fixed a bug where changing chamber properties would fail to redraw 2D views.
  • Connection tubes drawn between NIRS optodes in 3D views can now be clicked, which selects the two optodes at each end.
  • Image views are now able to draw characters from many more languages than before (ex: Japanese).
  • In addition to the CAD formats that can already be imported/exported (.stl, .ply, .dxf, .bscad), the .vtk polydata format is now also supported.
  • All the various parts of the user interface that show or accept numbers now use the localization settings from macOS System Preferences (ex: comma vs period for the decimal point).
  • Fixed miscellaneous bugs.

Download:

  • Brainsight 2.3.4 can be downloaded from our website here <https://www.rogue-research.com/downloads.html>
  • You’ll need your serial number, which you can get from Brainsight itself from the Brainsight menu > ‘Enter Serial Number’.

Feedback:

Thank you,

The Rogue Research Team

Brainsight 2.3.4 is released for all users Read More »

Brainsight 2.3.3 is released for all users

Dear Brainsight user,

We are happy to announce the release of Brainsight 2.3.3.

Before proceeding with this update, please read the following important information.

Minimum requirements:

  • Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks or later is required. For a free update, visit <https://www.apple.com/macos/how-to-upgrade/>. Contact us if you need to upgrade your Mac hardware.
  • This version of Brainsight was tested against OS X 10.10.5, 10.11.6, and 10.12 (Sierra).
  • We will not be supporting 10.9 for much longer; if you still use it, please upgrade.

Changes since version 2.3.2:

  • Grids can now be snapped to a reconstruction surface. Additionally, for trajectory-type grids, the grid nodes can be oriented tangential to the same or another surface. In case the automatic snapping needs tweaking, individual grid nodes can now be moved/reoriented.
  • Samples are now indicated in NIRS waveform views with vertical lines that show when each sample occurred.
  • The ‘Save As…’ feature has been restored, but only in macOS 10.12 Sierra, where Apple has fixed a bug that affected Brainsight.
  • Trying to enable Polaris tracking while a NIRS acquisition is in progress will now warn first.
  • Fixed a crash that sometimes occurred when closing a session perform window.
  • Fixed several compatibility issues with macOS 10.12 Sierra.
  • Fixed miscellaneous bugs.

Download:

  • Brainsight 2.3.3 can be downloaded from our website here <https://www.rogue-research.com/downloads.html>
  • You’ll need your serial number, which you can get from Brainsight itself from the Brainsight menu > ‘Enter Serial Number’.

Feedback:

Thank you,

The Rogue Research Team

Brainsight 2.3.3 is released for all users Read More »

Brainsight 2.3.2 is released for all users

Dear Brainsight user,

We are happy to announce the release of Brainsight 2.3.2.

Before proceeding with this update, please read the following important information.

Minimum requirements:

Changes since version 2.3.1:

  • Improved performance of views that show waveforms, especially for long acquisitions, or ones with many channels.
  • Coil/tool calibrations can now use a custom CAD file for their 3D shape.
  • Fixed a bug where the Polaris camera and/or Magstim stimulator would sometimes not be detected.
  • Fixed a bug in MNI Head-based projects where accessories were shown slightly skewed.
  • Fixed a bug where a cloned session’s electrodes were never visible in the session review window.
  • The Axilum Robotics TMS-Robot’s force sensor sensitivity can now be adjusted.
  • The Axilum Robotics TMS-Robot’s custom ‘welcome’ positions are now shown with their specific names.
  • Tables that show folders now use a folder icon to make it more clear what they are.
  • Improved compatibility with macOS 10.12 Sierra Beta.
  • Fixed miscellaneous bugs.

Download:

  • Brainsight 2.3.2 can be downloaded from our website here <https://www.rogue-research.com/downloads.html>
  • You’ll need your serial number, which you can get from Brainsight itself from the Brainsight menu > ‘Enter Serial Number’.

Feedback:

Thank you,

The Rogue Research Team

Brainsight 2.3.2 is released for all users Read More »

Brainsight 2.3.1 is released for all users

We are happy to announce the release of Brainsight 2.3.1.

Before proceeding with this update, please read the following important information.

Minimum requirements:

Changes since version 2.3.1:

  •  Samples can now be exported into DICOM files, either as a new overlay or as a copy of the anatomical.  Each sample is drawn as a sphere. The spheres’ voxel values can be either from the EMG peak-to-peak or specified explicitly.
  •  Improved the MNI152 model head subject registration algorithm.
  •  Improved performance when working with many hundreds of samples.
  •  Fixed a bug where cloning a session would result in the clone showing the motor maps of the original session.
  •  Fixed a bug where Brainsight Vet would incorrectly warn at launch that the Support Files were not installed.
  •  Fixed a bug where exporting a .txt file from the Electrodes Recording window incorrectly stated the coordinate system as “Brainsight” when in fact the coordinates are relative to the subject tracker.
  •  Fixed a bug where grid targets would sometimes be unreachable by the Axilum Robotics TMS-Robot.
  •  You can now move the Axilum Robotics TMS-Robot’s arm and seat to their ‘welcome’ positions separately.
  •  The 3D annotation shapes (Cone, Arrow, Brainsight) have been tweaked to have a thin projection line, helping to show the inwards direction.
  •  The Targets, Perform, and Review windows now show overlays by default.
  •  The Session Registration window now allows changing the crosshairs shape.
  •  The Polaris Configuration window now shows the device serial number and date the camera was last re-characterized.
  •  Fixed miscellaneous bugs.

Download:

  • Brainsight 2.3.1 can be downloaded from our website here:<https://www.rogue-research.com/downloads.html>
  • You’ll need your serial number, which you can get from Brainsight itself from the Brainsight menu > ‘Enter Serial Number’.

Feedback:

Thank you,

The Rogue Research Team

Brainsight 2.3.1 is released for all users Read More »