Novel equipment for monitoring ultrasonic vocalizations
H. van der Wiel and C. van der Leden
MTM, TNO- Defense and Safety,
Rijswijk, The Netherlands
Ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) are sounds within the frequency of 20-100
kHz. This frequency range is above the human range of hearing. However,
it is well known that bats, dolphins, rodents and insects produce and
hear USV as part of their behavior. Rodents use ultrasonic sounds for
communication. There is evidence that USV is used as a sensitive indicator
of subtle emotional and motivational changes in a number of animals. Therefore,
USV produced by animals in various conditions could be explored as a non-invasive
method for registering the welfare status of an animal.
Objectives of USV measurement
The use of USV to measure the welfare status of an animal would be advantageous
in a number of situations:
- at a very early stage of an experiment it is possible to recognize
discomfort whereupon pain relief can be administered;
- the effectiveness of the pain relief can be measured (monitored).
- as a parameter in behavioral studies.
- as a monitoring system during transport and acclimatization
USV Measurement
Modern equipment transforms the USV sounds in a for humans audible signal
ready for analysis. The very time-consuming and labor-intensive method
with a bat detector combined with a tape-recorder is no longer an option
for a versatile measurement. TNO-PML developed equipment that monitors
USV sounds making use of a microphone, a Personal Computer and LabVIEWTM.
In the last few years the importance of ultrasounds on animals has been
recognized widely and even an article of law has been made to alert researchers
to ultrasounds with respect to animal housing.
What can be achieved
By monitoring the USV sound one can learn much about the well-being of
animals. The animal research is re.ned and extended by an objective analysis
of USV sounds. USV could lead to:
- Less discomfort, improvement/monitoring of animal welfare, and better
living conditions for laboratory animals.
- A decrease in the need of laboratory animals because at an earlier
stage of an experiment effective countermeasures could be taken.
Paper presented
at Measuring Behavior 2005
, 5th International Conference on Methods and Techniques
in Behavioral Research, 30 August - 2 September 2005, Wageningen, The
Netherlands.
© 2005 Noldus
Information Technology bv
|