TThe tube dominance test is used for investigating social dominance in mice.

The apparatus consist of a narrow clear Perspex tube with two removable central doors. The tube is provided with two supporting paws for ensuring its stability during the test.

After being habituated to run through the tube individually, two mice are placed in the tube into opposite ends. Once both mice get close to the doors, the doors are opened and the dominant mice will makes the submissive mouse reverse until it get out of the tube. When one animal has all four paws out of the tube, it is declared the loser while the animal remaining inside the tube is the winner, ending the match.

The number of wins is reported as a percentage of total number of matches. Additional information about the social hierarchies can be gained with the measurement of additional parameters such as duration of each match, latency to exit the tube, and more.

The foot misplacement corridor test is used for assessing motor coordination and balance (gait control) in small laboratory animal (rats and mice).

The foot misplacement corridor test is made of a narrow corridor with clear Plexiglas side walls and opened extremities connecting the corridor to two plastic home cages, one for each side. The floor of the corridor consists of removable metal bars. The animal is placed at one extremity of the corridor and is required to walk on the bars as if walking on a horizontal ladder. The use of a ladder allows observing separately the front and hind foot placement in order to accurately count the total number of foot misplacements (misseps).

The bars can be removed to vary the distance/space between the bars and make the test more difficult for the animal. The changes in bar spacing also prevent animals from learning the location of the bars and so minimize the ability of the animals to compensate for impairments through learning. The width of the corridor can be adjusted to the size of the animal to prevent the animal from turning around.

The system can be combined with the use of a video tracking system for video recording and eventually assess a global evaluation of the animal trajectory, displacement and speed during the test.

This test is a qualitative test with a high sensitivity to determine even subtle loss of movement capacity.

 The inclined geotaxis board (slant board) is mainly used to assess motor coordination in rodents when challenged on a sloped surface.

The subjects are placed individually on the sloped platform facing in a downward direction (negative geotaxis). The latency to turn and orient themselves to be facing up the slope is recorded. This can be repeated at varying inclines to assess motor coordination and righting.

Delays in the ability to reorient could be indicative of delays in motor, balance, or vestibular function.

The inclined geotaxis board consists of sloped platforms of varying angles from horizontal to the desktop (0° to 90°).

2020 Virtual FENS Highlights - Enhance your Rota Rod Experiment!

• New Speed Rage (2-90 RPM)
• New Editable Acceleration/Ramp mode
• New Speed Protocol & Rocking Modes
• New Integral Cover for Mice

Rota Rod description

Our Rota Rod provides an easy way to test the effects of drugs,brain damage, or diseases on motor coordination or fatigue resistance in rodents.

The animal is placed on the rotating lane of the Rota Rod and the timer is started. When the animal drops safely into its own lane, the time latency to fall (minutes and seconds) and rotation speed are automatically recorded. A removable upper separator for rat models is included to prevent interference between animals running in adjacent lanes.

The Rota Rod is controlled by an advanced microprocessor which provides precise timing control and ultra-accurate speed regulation. Rotation can be electronically set at a constant speed (2 to 90 rpm). Alternatively, acceleration rate may be selected at a defined time (2 to 5999 sec, 1 sec increments).

Unique in the market, the extended speed range (2 to 90 RPM)combined with the expanded acceleration mode settings, speed protocols and rocking modes, make the experimental reach of the rota rod exceptionally flexible.

The touchscreen graphic user interface allows clear visualization of timing and speed for each lane. Change modes, adjust speed, and create protocols right from the main screen for greater flexibility with maximum functionality and usability. The data can be read on the screen and/or exported to the SEDACOM software for saving the data in table form by lanes/trials.

The new integral cover option helps confine the animals if they fall off of the rod (only available for mice).

Parameters measured

• Animal latency to fall
• Rotation speed when fall occurs

Innovative Metabolic Monitoring

OxyletPro is a modular system integrating:

• Respiratory metabolism (VO2 consumption/VCO2 production)
• Food and drink intake
• Activity/rearing measurements

OxyletPro, an optimized system for studies in laboratory research models, utilizes indirect calorimetry to evaluate respiratory metabolism.

Food and drink intake and activity are evaluated using Panlab’s weight transducer technology. This highly stable technology permits the continuous assessment of consumption and spontaneous activity with superior accuracy. For a more comprehensive evaluation of activity, an Infrared (IR) frame can be added to monitor rearing behavior.

OxyletPro’s unique modular design allows for simple expandability. Start with the configuration that meets your requirements today, and expands as needs change and grow.

Special configurations are available for calorimetry studies with neonatal rat pups as well as exercise physiology studies with our single lane, airtight treadmills.

OxyletPro can be used in the following applications:

Obesity, diabetes, metabolic disorders, nutrition studies, chronobiology/circadian rhythm studies, drug screening, phenotyping and more!

Indirect Calorimetry

OxyletPro uses a standard rodent home cage and uses an airtight lid to ensure the integrity of the sample environment. Simply change from a mouse lid to a rat lid - that is how easy it is to adapt the system for both species.

The home cages are autoclavable, making cleaning easy.

The air supply and switching unit allows for independent flow control to each connected cage and sends the cage samples in tandem to the gas analyzer for O2 and CO2 concentration analysis. Since the flow is independently controlled for each cage, the system has the flexibility to conduct simultaneous experiments of subjects of varying species and/or size, making OxyletPro extremely efficient.

Our gas analyzer features a high quality laser diode O2 sensor and Infrared spectroscopy CO2 sensor, allowing 0.01% resolution.

We offer special configurations for neonatal rats and our single lane airtight treadmills.

Food and Drink Intake

Opt for our airtight lids with transducers to add on food and drink intake monitoring! High precision extensiometric weight transducers are integrated into our airtight lid design and feature easy to access food and drink dispensers.

This extremely stable technology allows intake monitoring with the highest possible accuracy (0.02 g for food and 0.01 g for liquid).

Activity and Rearing

Add on the sensor platform, which houses a third extensiometric weight transducer and continuously record spontaneous activity to clearly identify circadian patterns and activity levels. This highly precise capability will allow you to detect activity without displacement; even the finest movements by mice are detected.

For additional activity monitoring, our IR sensor bars are added to detect occurrence and duration of rearing events.

Modular software package for a modular system

Metabolism offers software modules for respiratory metabolism (METAOXY), intake (METAINT), and activity (METACT) to complement our OxyletPro modular hardware. The NEW user interface features an Experiment Assistant which simplifies and expedites the setup and an Advanced Scheduler Tool for organizing and managing OxyletPro experiments. The Data analysis enhancements include runtime viewers and charts for real time monitoring, batch analysis and an option for data averaging.

Now with an improved, 1-minute switching time, OxyletPro and Metabolism provides greater resolution for the following parameters for each user-defined time interval:

• VO2/VCO2 concentration
• VO2/VCO2 consumption
• Air flow rate
• Respiratory Quotient (VO2/VCO2)
• Energy expenditure
• Treadmill data (if applicable)
• Food and drink consumption
• Mean spontaneous activity
• Rearing data

NOTE: the calibration tanks are not provided with the system and should be purchased separately by the user (see specifications below).

The Kinetic Weight Bearing (KWB) system is an alternative method generating quantitative data on footprints and gait in spontaneously moving animals. 

The unique "sensor-mat" technology originally designed by Bioseb for the Dynamic Weight Bearing application has been refined and adapted to make kinetic analysis possible. This allows the weight borne by each individual paw to be tracked during a walking sequence in a corridor. The Kinetic Weight Bearing Instrument provides additional information on applied weight as well as the speed and acceleration of each paw as the animal moves toward an end point of the runway platform. This additional information provides data on coordination and gait comparison paw to paw and step to step. The system combines the video of a freely walking rodent (mouse or rat) with the pressure applied by each paw in real time using an array of not less than 4000 or 6000 sensors depending on the corridor's length.

Operation principle

The Kinetic Weight Bearing (KWB) Instrument offers automated parameter analysis for each paw of a rodent on Maximum Force (mN), Mass Velocity (N/s), and Maximum surface area (cm2). Additional Gait Parameters are also analyzed, speed, cadence, overlaps, and step patterns, are all compared and statistically processed. An automated analysis package is available for automatic analysis of a batch of experiments, saving time in analysis, and making the results more consistent and less operator dependent.

The instrument combines the video of a freely moving rodent with the data supplied by the mat including up to 6000 sensors that cover the full length of a corridor at the end of which lies the animal's home cage. Gait analysis can be carried out, and can be applied in the study of diseases such as CNS ischemia, SCI, and Neurotrauma, for example.

Bioseb has demonstrated that the rising time to the maximum force of each animal step differs across different animal models. The KWB is able to compare the path of the animal's "Geometric Center of Gravity" with the actual "Weighted Center of Gravity", and show significant differences. Changes in weight distribution from left to right, front to back and contra-lateral compensation are easily measured, thus providing useful information for your research work on nociception and analgesia.

Gait analysis has been extensively used in phenotyping of CNS diseases such as cerebral ischemia, neurodegenerative diseases, Spinal Cord Injury models and some pain models like neurotrauma (Nerve Crush, SNI…). The kinetic weight bearing system adds a major feature to existing gait analysis systems by including the measurement of the force applied by each individual paw to the floor the animal is walking upon.

Parameters measured:

• Scored prints/total
• Steps number for each paw
• Animal speed
• Paw speed
• Cadence 
• BoS front rear
• Overlap left/right
• Animal weight (g)
• Mean forces/weight ratio
• Peak force for each paw/animal weight
• Peak surface for each paw
• Stride length /paw
• Swing duration /paw (s)
• Stance duration/ paw (s)
• Propulsion duration /paw (s)
• Step duration /paw (s)
• Ratio of any 2 parameters

The OxyletPro system is a modular system allowing the integration of respiratory metabolism (O2 consumption /CO2 production). Panlab provides a complete Oxylet solution enabling forced exercise training in a treadmill combined with indirect calorimetry in rodents.

Basically, Panlab Treadmill apparatus consists of a rolling belt with adjustable speed (up to 150 cm/s) and slope (from -25 to 25 degrees) and a control Unit. The rolling belt is built with especially selected materials to guarantee the best performance under conditions of intensive use and the minimum operations of maintenance, as well as simplicity in keeping it clean. The lanes (corridors of activity for the animal) have sufficient width for the subject to correct its errors in coordination, thereby allowing an exact measurement of the fatigue without deficiencies in motor coordination. 

The treadmill unit controls the speed of the belt, shows measured data in its touchscreen display and provides electrical shock to the grid. The electrical shock supplied by the grid is of constant intensity (from 0 to 2 mA), that is, the current which circulates through the animal (and therefore its effect) only depends on the value of the mA chosen and not of the subject (quantity of body mass in contact with the bars, perspiration, etc.)

For metabolism studies, the treadmill is provided with an air isolated enclosure. The LE400 air flow control unit allows a fine regulation of the air flow inside the treadmill and sends the air to the LE450 gas analyzer for O2/CO2 gas concentrations determination.

The associated METABOLISM software transfers the data from the treadmill control unit and the gas analyzer to a PC computer using RS232/USB outputs for data storage and further analysis.

NOTE: the calibration tanks are not provided with the system and should be purchased separately by the user (see Specifications tab).

The Geller-Seifter paradigm is a conflict model in which prior food-deprived rodents have to “choose” between consuming food and avoiding the punishment associated with this consumption.

The Thermal Gradient Test has been described in Moqrich et al. 2005, and is one of the very few thermal nociception tests to be operator independent on freely moving rodents (mice and rat). A continuous temperature gradient (-4 to 65°C) is established over a 120 cm long base plate, on which the animal is free to walk. After the exploration period the rodent (mouse or rat) shows a distinct zone preference, or comfort zone.

Bioseb has defined an automated instrument for your research on analgesia and nociception (especially suitable for research on alodynia), with a temperature gradient stable over the surface and over time, allowing to identify the preferred temperature zone. Two instruments models will test independently and simultaneously 2 mice or small rats (1 adult rat).

The accompanying software, coupled to a video camera, displays for each animal the time spent per time period in each temperature zone, together with overall travelled distance.

The encrypted data and the video images are recorded synchronously in real time during the nociception experiments. This allows the operator to replay and check the animal behaviour at any time and remotely, and also to comply with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP).

This behavioral assay will allow monitoring of temperature preferences, nociceptive thresholds and investigate the role of a given gene or compound on these thresholds.