Equipments Details
Description
The Promethion system houses up to 16 mice in individual cages that are the size of the standard home cage.: Room air is pulled into the cage through apertures in the lid and leaves the chamber via an internal sampling manifold. Air flow through each cage is monitored continuously. Oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production are measured, from which energy expenditure is calculated.
Standard bedding is provided at ¼” depth. The cage includes an enrichment habitat that serves as a body mass sensor to provide body weight in grams during the course of the experiment. A running wheel can be added by request. Cages are placed in frames with infrared sensors for measurement of physical activity. A small amount of nest material is provided to permit construction of a flat nest that doesn't interfere with activity monitoring.
Food is provided through an in-cage stainless steel hopper with a slotted front suspended from a weight sensor. The system is equipped with a control unit to permit timed restriction of access to the food hopper if desired, as well as the option of paired or yoked feeding protocols.
Water is provided through a metal-shrouded polypropylene bottle with drinking spout, suspended from a weight sensor.
The entire system is computer-driven with continuous monitoring of air, food and water delivery. The system also monitors environmental conditions: room temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity, noise levels, light levels and room occupancy.
The room is equipped with an approved HEPA-filtered transfer station for weighing and transfer of mice from standard cages to the Promethion cages.
Sophisticated software provides circadian analysis, plus behavioral analysis in the form of an Ethoscan that reports the time budget and order of behaviors. Ambulatory activity and wheel running are reported in terms of both distance and speed. Feeding and drinking reports include number, duration and quantity of feeding and drinking events as well as time between events and total intake. The Ethoscan also reports on interactions with food and water hoppers that don’t result in food removal. A behavior transition matrix analyzes the proportion of behaviors that follow any of the other behaviors (for example, how often is exiting the body mass platform followed by a feeding or drinking event?). Data typically are provided in 30 minute bins, but can be reported in smaller bins down to 1 minute if needed.
Standard bedding is provided at ¼” depth. The cage includes an enrichment habitat that serves as a body mass sensor to provide body weight in grams during the course of the experiment. A running wheel can be added by request. Cages are placed in frames with infrared sensors for measurement of physical activity. A small amount of nest material is provided to permit construction of a flat nest that doesn't interfere with activity monitoring.
Food is provided through an in-cage stainless steel hopper with a slotted front suspended from a weight sensor. The system is equipped with a control unit to permit timed restriction of access to the food hopper if desired, as well as the option of paired or yoked feeding protocols.
Water is provided through a metal-shrouded polypropylene bottle with drinking spout, suspended from a weight sensor.
The entire system is computer-driven with continuous monitoring of air, food and water delivery. The system also monitors environmental conditions: room temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity, noise levels, light levels and room occupancy.
The room is equipped with an approved HEPA-filtered transfer station for weighing and transfer of mice from standard cages to the Promethion cages.
Sophisticated software provides circadian analysis, plus behavioral analysis in the form of an Ethoscan that reports the time budget and order of behaviors. Ambulatory activity and wheel running are reported in terms of both distance and speed. Feeding and drinking reports include number, duration and quantity of feeding and drinking events as well as time between events and total intake. The Ethoscan also reports on interactions with food and water hoppers that don’t result in food removal. A behavior transition matrix analyzes the proportion of behaviors that follow any of the other behaviors (for example, how often is exiting the body mass platform followed by a feeding or drinking event?). Data typically are provided in 30 minute bins, but can be reported in smaller bins down to 1 minute if needed.
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