A new non-invasive cardiorespiratory telemetry jacket for rodents

Timothé Flenet1, H. Barret2, E. Chastel2, A. Momtaz2, C. Eynard1 and C. Boixel2

1 R&D, ETISENSE SAS, Lyon, France
2 Preclinical Safety, SANOFI, Alfortville, France

Laboratory Animals 2019, Vol. 53 [1S] 28-203, abstracts of 14th FELASA annual congress

https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0023677219839199

Abstract

Radio telemetric devices enable monitoring activity and physiological parameters in conscious and unrestrained animals. Telemetry contributes to reducing the number of animals used, refines procedures and provide data considered to be more predictive. Whereas several jacketed telemetry systems are available and now commonly used in large mammals (dogs, monkey, pigs) cardiorespiratory monitoring in small mammals still requires surgery or restraining.

We developed a cardiorespiratory monitoring jacket that embeds external ECG recording, activity monitoring and respiratory inductive plethysmography strips (RIP). In order to validate this new technic, we conducted a study to compare physiological measurements from the jacket with reference methods: Unrestrained Whole-Body Plethysmograph chamber (UWBP) and an implanted ECG telemetry device. This study was performed on 6 telemetered Sprague-Dawley (505±28 g) males equipped with a jacket and placed in a plethysmograph.

All animals kept the jacket for 2 hours without any sign of struggling. Cardiac (ECG, heart rate) and Respiratory Rate (RR) parameters were simultaneously recorded for 1 hour in rest conditions. Data were averaged every 15 seconds. We found good agreement between jacket versus reference measurements using the Bland Altman method to calculate 95% confidence intervals: for HR ±24 bpm (n=1129) and RR ±18 bpm (n=331).    

In conclusion, in small animals, a cardiorespiratory monitoring without surgery and restraining is possible by using a non-invasive jacket. This new cardiorespiratory monitoring technic could become an alternative to refine and simplify procedures in several fields such as endpoint monitoring, physiopathology, safety pharmacology and toxicology studies.

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