Activity measurement

Sunday, 20 March, 2022

The activity function registers the locomotor activity of the animal in the animal cage. Special frames are equipped with IR sensors, each sensor consists of an IR reciever and the corresponding IR emitter wich produces infrared light beams intersecting in the animal cage.

The frames can be supplied with light beams in the X, Y and Z level according to the system configuration. Various parameters can be used for determining the locomotor activity of the animals. The software registers the number of beam interruptions caused by the animal's movement. Beam breaks are divided into ambulatory and fine movements whose sum provides the total number of interrupted light beams. The user can define a part of the sensor as the "center". This allows the measurement area to be adapted to suit animal cages with different sizes as well as the definition of two different measuring ranges (central and peripherial). To avoid counting scratching of tail flipping a refractory period can be defined during which an additional interruption of a beam will not be counted within a certain period of time.