Medical Devices and Techniques for Rodent and Small Mammalian Based Research

Abstract

A method and system of supplying rodents, such as mice, to medical researchers pre-installs and/or embeds physiologic sensors onto or within the rodents prior to selling the modified rodents to the researchers. The specialty skills, such as small animal surgical and anesthesia skills and sensor placement and testing, are centralized in one organization rather than being spread about a collection of researchers. The subjects with preinstalled, pre-tested hardware, are sold to the researcher as needed. Communication hardware and software will be supplied for the user to convert their desktop computer into a wireless monitoring station. Additionally an external pulse oximeter for small rodents, such as mice, provides measurements on a hand or foot of the rodent with a sensor configured to avoid shunting around the rodent appendage, and configured for high heart rates (200-900 beats per minutes) of the subjects.

1 . A method of supplying modified rodents to independent researchers wherein the rodents have been modified to include pre-installed and/or embedded physiologic sensors onto or within the rodents, said method comprising the steps of:
 A) Designing at least one distinct type of modified rodents at a single organization that is distinct from the independent researchers, wherein the design step includes, for each type of modified rodent, the steps of   (i) selecting at least one appropriate sensor for at least one physiologic parameter,   (ii) fitting each sensor relative to a modified rodent by performing at least one of positioning each sensor on the modified rodent, choosing the correct size sensor for the modified rodent, and adapting the sensor for use on each modified rodent,   (iii) engineering each sensor relative to a modified rodent by developing at least one of   (1) the manufacturing techniques for pre-installing or pre-embedding the sensors in each modified rodent,   (2) the validation techniques for each modified rodent,   (3) the calibration techniques for each type of modified rodent,   (4) the associated hardware for of modified rodent, and   (5) the software for of modified rodent;   B) Obtaining rodents to be modified by the single organization;   C) Pre-installing the physiologic sensors onto or within the rodents for each modified rodent by the single organization; and   D) Providing individual researchers selected modified rodents as selected by the individual researcher.   
     
     
         2 . The method of supplying modified rodents to independent researchers according to  claim 1  wherein the modified rodents are rats and/or mice and there are a plurality of distinct types of modified rats and/or mice that have sensors for distinct physiologic sensors. 
     
     
         3 . The method of supplying modified rodents to independent researchers according to  claim 1  further including providing a variety of modified rodents from the single organization which include a variety of types of pre-embeded sensors. 
     
     
         4 . The method of supplying modified rodents to independent researchers according to  claim 1  wherein physiologic sensors are designed such that the data there from is adapted to be communicated with conventional personal computers. 
     
     
         5 . The method of supplying modified rodents to independent researchers according to  claim 1  wherein the physiologic sensors include at least one of the following: blood pressure sensors, blood flow sensors, blood glucose sensors, blood cholesterol sensors, heart sound sensors, EMG sensors, EEG sensors, EKG sensors, EOG sensors, pulse sensors, oxygenation sensors, blood perfusion sensors, respiration monitors, temperature sensors, blood gas sensors, motion sensors, strain gauges, body position sensors, and limb motion sensors. 
     
     
         6 . The method of supplying modified rodents to independent researchers wherein at least one of the embedded sensors include wireless data transmission. 
     
     
         7 . An external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse oximetry system comprising:
 A) an emitter adjacent the subject mammal, the emitter having two light sources of distinct wavelengths;   B) a receiver adjacent the subject mammal for detecting light from the emitter that has been transmitted through a perfused tissue of the subject mammal;   C) a controller to control the emitter and process signals from the receiver; and   D) wherein the external small mammal photo-plethysmograph based pulse oximetry system includes at least one of the following:
 (i) wherein the emitter and the receiver are adapted to be placed on opposed sides of the paw of the subject mammal and at least one of the emitter and receiver is sized to conform to the paw of the small mammal; 
 (ii) wherein the emitter and the receiver are adapted to be placed on or within opposed ears of the subject mammal whereby the light is transmitted through the head of the subject mammal; 
 (iii) wherein the controller uses the signal from the receiver to determine the pulse rate of the small mammal and the respiration rate of the small mammal; 
 (iv) a bite resistant shell is placed around at least one of the emitter, receiver and cables leading thereto. 
   
     
     
         8 . The external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse oximetry system according to  claim 7  wherein small mammal is a rodent and the emitter and the receiver are adapted to be placed on opposed ears of the subject rodent whereby the light is transmitted through the head of the subject rodent. 
     
     
         9 . The external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse oximetry system according to  claim 7  wherein the small mammal is a rodent and wherein the emitter and the receiver are adapted to be placed on opposed sides of the paw of the subject rodent and further including a bite resistant shell around the emitter and receiver and/or cables leading thereto. 
     
     
         10 . The external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse oximetry system according to  claim 9  wherein the shell includes (i) a pair of boot halves snapped together around the emitter and the receiver and/or (ii) a plurality of protective beads snapped around the cables. 
     
     
         11 . The external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse oximetry system according to  claim 7  wherein the small mammal is a rodent and the controller uses the signal from the receiver to determine the pulse rate of the rodent, the blood oxygenation saturation of the rodent and the respiration rate of the rodent. 
     
     
         12 . The external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse oximetry system according to  claim 7  wherein the small mammal is a rodent and the controller will determine pulses between about 200 and about 900 beats per minute and includes filter cutoffs for signals outside of that range. 
     
     
         13 . The external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse oximetry system according to  claim 7  wherein the small mammal is a mouse and the controller uses the signal from the receiver to simultaneously determine and subsequently display the pulse rate of the mouse, the blood oxygenation saturation of the mouse and the respiration rate of the mouse. 
     
     
         14 . The external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse oximetry system according to  claim 7  wherein the small mammal is a rodent and wherein the emitter and the receiver are adapted to be placed on opposed sides of the paw of the subject rodent and at least one of the emitter and receiver is sized to conform to the paw of the small rodent. 
     
     
         15 . The external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse oximetry system according to  claim 14  wherein at least one of the emitter and receiver is sized to conform to the paw of the small rodent by having external dimensions no larger than the paw of the small rodent. 
     
     
         16 . The external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse oximetry system according to  claim 14  wherein the receiver is sized to conform to the paw of the small rodent by having external dimensions no larger than the paw of the small rodent. 
     
     
         17 . The external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse oximetry system according to  claim 14  wherein at least one of the emitter and receiver is sized to conform to the paw of the small rodent by including a restricting adaptor adjacent the associated emitter or receiver with the adaptor having an aperture no larger than the external dimensions of the paw at the location on the paw of the rodent through which the relevant light is being transmitted. 
     
     
         18 . The external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse oximetry system according to  claim 14  wherein the receiver is sized to conform to the paw of the small rodent by including a restricting adaptor adjacent the associated receiver with the adaptor having an aperture no larger than the external dimensions of the paw at the location on the paw of the rodent through which the relevant light is being transmitted. 
     
     
         19 . The external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse oximetry system according to  claim 14  wherein the emitter is sized to conform to the paw of the small rodent by including a restricting adaptor adjacent the emitter with the adaptor having an aperture no larger than the external dimensions of the paw at the location on the paw of the rodent through which the relevant light is being transmitted, and wherein the adapter includes a mechanism to maximize the light transmitted through the aperture. 
     
     
         20 . An external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse detecting system comprising:
 A) an emitter adjacent the subject mammal, the emitter having at least one light source;   B) a receiver adjacent the subject mammal for detecting light from the emitter that has been transmitted through a perfused tissue of the subject mammal;   C) a controller to control the emitter and process signals from the receiver; and   D) wherein the external small mammal photoplethysmograph based pulse detecting system includes at least one of the following:
 (i) wherein the emitter and the receiver are adapted to be placed on opposed sides of the paw of the subject mammal and at least one of the emitter and receiver is sized to conform to the paw of the small mammal; 
 (ii) wherein the emitter and the receiver are adapted to be placed on or within opposed ears of the subject mammal whereby the light is transmitted through the head of the subject mammal; 
 (iii) wherein the controller uses the signal from the receiver to determine the pulse rate of the small mammal and the respiration rate of the small mammal; 
 (iv) a bite resistant shell is placed around at least one of the emitter, receiver and cables leading thereto.