Password is Respirometry – Clues to Go With The Variable Cage Flow

The show where contestants were paired up with a celebrity partner to compete in a time word association game.

Well – guess what.

We are still playing that game – particularly in the scientific arena.

Here is an example.

The word is “respirometry.”

Clues that our competitors give out to figure this out are air exchange, cage time-constant, high flow rate, CO2, and hypercapnic.   Researchers not only have to guess the word but then go one step further and determine whether this definition meets their protocol criteria.

Energy Expenditure and Respirometry

At issue is flow rate. One theory pushed out is that a high flow rate creates advantages, including increased temporal resolution, reduced animal stress, and more accuracy. However, consider this scenario, if an animal shows signs of distress, wouldn’t you want to be able to adjust?

High flow rates can negatively affect heat loss from the cage and the animal mainly through convection (“wind chill”). Energy expenditure is then consistently too high, and animal behavior is greatly affected by nest building to shield from the cold, depending on the type of bedding to a lesser or greater extent.

Flow-Through Respirometry

In PhenoMaster, cage flow rates are carefully matched to the application. We offer a variable flow rate with a dynamic range of 0.25 to 5 Liters per minute. We correspond animal size to our gas sensors’ optimal signal-to-noise properties and always aim to keep the changes in measured gas concentration to less than 0.5% from ambient. The very high resolution and high speed of our sensors thus allow 2-40 complete cage air changes for a typical mouse cage. However, the ability to do so does not mean it needs to be! A careful match between animal size/weight versus its natural activity behavior is required.

Only TSE technology optimizes experimental conditions that balance optimal animal welfare with optimal conditions. A better life, better data, it’s that simple. Additionally, we provide an environment monitor in the form of the TSE climate board in every cage ensures that you will continuously get real-time feedback on the situation in every cage.

Everybody likes to play games – but not when it comes to your studies.

Real-time Feedback

Should you score points on your next funding cycle, turn to your trusted partner  www.tse-systems.com  and let our knowledge get you to the bonus round, advancing 3R principles and translational models.