Measuring Behavior 2005: Van Essen and Jansen

PhysioLinQ, a battery-less transmitter for remote measurement of physiological signals in socially housed rodents

G.J. van Essen and M.B. Jansen

TeleMetronics biometry BV, Wageningen. The Netherlands

An innovative telemetry system, PhysioLinQ has been developed by TeleMetronics biometry, a spin-off company of Wageningen University and Research Centre in The Netherlands.

The system is based on proven technology; prior versions are in use since 12 years. On request of the European Space Agency (ESA) the system is modernized and miniaturised, by application of chip technology, for use in microgravity studies on mice onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The system is suited for monitoring heart rate, body temperature and animal activity, via acceleration, in group housed animals.

PhysioLinQ differs from other commercial telemetry systems: the signal transmission is not continuous but intermitted. This means that the collected physiological data is pre-processed on board of the implant. At prede.ned time intervals, for instance every minute, the accumulated data is transmitted to the receiver. This dramatically reduces the huge amount of redundant data that is normally produced by biomedical telemetry systems. Since every transmitter can be uniquely addressed by an identi.cation code transmitted by the base station, a number of implants may be active at the same location. One base station is capable to monitor up to 20 animals simultaneously. This enables social interaction studies between animals.

A battery-less power system is developed to sustain long duration experiments as well to decrease the total volume of the implants. Successful in vivo experiments were carried out in mouse and rat. At the beginning of this year the system is accepted by ESA for use in the ISS.

Summarizing PhysioLinQ bene.ts: smallest implants, battery-less transmitters (no refurbishing), measurement on group-housed animals and integration with The Observer^® (Noldus Information Technology bv, The Netherlands) and EthoVision^® (Noldus Information Technology bv, The Netherlands) to analyze behavioral and physiological effects in social tests.

PhysioLinQ market introduction expected in fall 2006

Paper presented at Measuring Behavior 2005 , 5^th International Conference on Methods and Techniques in Behavioral Research, 30 August - 2 September 2005, Wageningen, The Netherlands.