Ghanbari, Leila2020-08-252020-08-252020-03https://hdl.handle.net/11299/215166University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. March 2020. Major: Mechanical Engineering. Advisor: Suhasa Kodandaramaiah. 1 computer file (PDF); xii, 108 pages.Neural computations occurring simultaneously across cerebral cortical regions are critical for behavior mediation. While, progress has been made to understand how neural activity in specific cortical regions contributes to behavior, there is a lack of tools that allow chronic and simultaneous monitoring and perturbing of neural activity across cortical regions. Exposing the brain requires surgical precision for large craniotomies without damaging underlying tissue. In this thesis, we introduce computer numeric controlled (CNC) robotic surgery platforms developed to automatically perform precise craniotomies in mice based on individualized skull surface profiles, enabling optical access to large brain regions. We also present “See-Shells,” digitally designed and morphologically realistic transparent polymer skulls that allow chronic (>300 days) optical access to 45 mm2 of the dorsal cerebral cortex in the mouse. We demonstrate the ability to perform neural mesoscopic and two-photon imaging across the cortex using See-Shells. “Perforated See-Shells” enable the introduction of neural probes to perturb or record neural activity during whole cortex imaging. All these technologies can be constructed with common desktop fabrication tools and collectively serve as a pipeline for an abundance of investigations into the brain.en3D printingBrain imagingCNCMouse cortexRoboticWide field optical imagingThesis or Dissertation