Integration of LABORAS with Dataquest A.R.T. Telemetry provides simultaneous collection of behavioral and physiological data in mice and rats

R. Sommer¹, M.K. Meijer¹, K. Kramer², R. Bulthuis³, F. Ohl¹ and V. Baumans^1,4

¹Department of Animals, Science and Society, Division of Laboratory Animal Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
²Department of Safety and Environmental Affairs, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
³Metris B.V., Hoofddorp, The Netherlands
⁴Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

In the field of laboratory animal research, a growing number of tools is available for the reliable registration of either behavioral or physiological parameters. In order to provide simultaneous collection of these parameters, the LABORAS system for automatic registration of behavior (Metris B.V., Hoofddorp, The Netherlands) and the Dataquest A.R.T. telemetry system for stress-free measurement of physiological parameters (Data Sciences International (DSI), St. Paul, MN, USA) are currently being integrated.

An important advantage for the user is that both the LABORAS and Dataquest A.R.T. software packages will reliably run on the same PC at the same time. The combined results will be presented in the LABORAS result summary, providing the behavior, tracking and telemetry data together over user definable time windows and synchronized against the same time axis.

In the integrated system, the DSI telemetry receivers are installed below the LABORAS measurement platforms. The first extensive integration tests demonstrated that the telemetry signals were not disturbed by the LABORAS platforms. Testing is proceeded with four transmitter implanted C57BL/6 mice that will be placed on the integrated systems for a few days. Results on heart rate and body temperature combined with behavioral data (locomotion, grooming, eating, drinking, climbing and immobility) and tracking data (position, speed, traveled distance, etc.) will be presented.

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.

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