Researchers investigating pain in mouse models are in need of an activity wheel that automatically collects better pain-informative voluntary activity data inside of existing mouse cages.
Project Scope
Researchers investigating pain in mouse models are in need of alternative assays that are capable of automatic pain-informative data collection. The standard method of voluntary activity data recording is through the use of mouse wheels that collect basic data on the rotation of the wheel; however, these options are very expensive and offer limited pain-informative data. There are other pain assays that involve testing the movement of mice involuntarily, but they do not collect data automatically nor do they give reliable indicators of pain. It is often the case that the pain manifests as changes or impairments to the gait of mice. By incorporating gait analysis into the general mouse activity wheel, researchers will have access to another less expensive form of quantitative pain-associated data. The goal is to deliver a mouse activity wheel prototype that automatically collects data on the gait of mice and is cheaper than $250.
Background
Often in the study of orthopaedics, researchers use mice to measure the impact that different injuries and conditions have on the musculoskeletal system. Musculoskeletal states are often sources of great pain to humans, but utilizing mice to model such disease states poses an issue since they cannot report the extent to which they experience pain. With limited information on the condition’s impact on the lab mouse, it becomes difficult to predict and anticipate the effects that the condition will have on humans. This limits the amount of pain-related data the researchers are able to collect on the condition at hand which makes creating and testing solutions difficult.
There are many pain assays in use that measure proxies for the level of pain experienced by a mouse. Some pain assays are used to indicate hyperalgesia while some are used to measure motor control, both of which can be indications of pain. However, the results of these assays are often susceptible to variability arising from differences in mouse handlers and subjective conclusions by the assay operator. For instance, the hot plate test involves placing a mouse onto a hot plate and measuring the time between when the mouse touches the hot plate and when it appears to have a negative reaction to the stimulus. It is often difficult to discern whether or not the animal is lifting its paw from the plate due to pain.
One measure of motor function that is often used to represent pain is involuntary movement measured via rodent activity wheels. These wheels collect basic data from a wheel’s rotation such as distance travelled at a certain speed. The automated collection of data by mouse activity wheels allows for minimization of mouse handling and human interpretation. However, activity wheels offer a limited range of data which also limits the extent to which a researcher can say that it variations in mouse activity are due to pain. It would help researchers investigating musculoskeletal diseases to make the mouse activity wheel more pain-informative. In addition to musculoskeletal researchers, there is a large interest in involuntary movement data collection in drug testing research. The mouse activity wheel is widely used across many fields of research, and the ability to collect data that is sensitive to the level of pain in the animal is highly desirable.