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Drinking & Feeding Monitoring System
This sophisticated system is designed for automatically recording and analyzing liquid and food
consumption of all laboratory animals. It allows an unlimited number of measuring stations to be
monitored by a single computer!
System configurations:
Different mounting devices are available depending on the type of cage used. The sensors can also be
integrated into the wire lid of standard lab animal cages. In the typical dual-sensor configuration one
drinking and one feeding sensor are combined for long-term studies (shown above). For preference
experiments up to 4 sensors can be allocated per cage!
Sensors installed according to the preference design:
The system can also be configured with one single drinking or feeding sensor.
- All sensors are adaptable to any cage type
- Variable sensor capacities are provided
- The system features highest resolution (down to 100µl/100mg)
The sensor assemblies can also be motorized in order to move food and liquid out of reach of the
animals (deprivation).
The measuring system for small animals, e.g. rats, uses drinking vessels with a capacity of 100 ml.
Vessels for large animals with volumes of up to 10 liters are also available! The food basket is
constructed of stainless steel wire suitable for standard pellets. The baskets can hold 100g or 400g
food; other sizes are provided on request. In order to study potential drugs that could reduce the food
intake (active agent screening), Paired Feeding experiments can be carried out for.
Data acquisition:
Several test cages can be started simultaneously if required. During the trial the sensor signals are
monitored every second. To compensate for vibrations the system carries out a scatter control: if the
signal variation is less than a preset limit then data are stored; otherwise the signals are rejected.
A graphical overview of the current status of the boxes can be called up anytime enabling the operator
to see the filling levels of all sensors at a glance. Sensors can be refilled during the experiment as
often is required.
Trial Monitor: different sensor types are shown in different colours. The accumulated amount removed is
given in millilitres/grams.
Status tables can be exported for intermediate analysis of longer-lasting experiments!
A trial can be automatically ended when a predetermined time period has elapsed and/or when all the
liquid/food at a sensor station has been consumed.
Analysis:
The comprehensive evaluation includes a run table listing each single drinking and feeding event
chronologically. In the results table the animal's actions are outputted for user-definable intervals
either cumulatively or as individual measurements (differentially). Data can also be displayed
graphically.
Run graph of a 3-day trial in a home-cage equipped with one drinking and one feeding sensor:
A detailed meal analysis allows to evaluate drinking and feeding episodes according to user-set
intermeal intervals. Drinking/feeding sequences separated from each other by time periods larger than
this interval are considered as individual meals. This is a perfect tool for studying the daily rhythms
of feeding and drinking activity, i.e. to show the pattern over the light-dark cycle.
All analytical results can be exported for further-reaching complex statistics in the form of
user-defined ASCII files.
Options:
Drinking units can be modified with "stimulation modules" to assess learning, memory or motivation
("Vogel" test). Each time the animal touches the nipple an electrical shock of variable length and
intensity is then applied.
An extension of the system with sensors to record amounts of excrement (faeces, urine) in a special
metabolism cage is also available.
FeedTime
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- Individual feeding times and lengths are programmable according to a user-defined time schedule
- For controlling up to 128 cages.
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The FeedTime system allows you to control the feeding of small laboratory animals (rats, mice) at
defined time intervals. A software-controlled feeding roller is used to enable or disable the animal's
access to the food. Individual feeding times and lengths are programmable according to a user-defined
time schedule.
Copyright © 1995 - 2008 TSE Systems International Group - All rights reserved.
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