General
DECRO is a non-invasive solution, used in freely-moving animals. Today, such technique is not compatible with blood pressure measurement.
Currently, no. The minimum weight of animals that can be equipped is around 220g. Research and development efforts are ongoing to continue to miniaturize the electronics and reduce the weight of the emitter without increasing the cost or losing battery life.
Habituation is essential to ensure the well-being of the animals and the quality of the results. A blog article is available detailing the “typical” habituation protocol (“A good habituation is a key success factor with DECRO solution“). This one is generally done during 2 to 3 days before the study but it can be adapted afterwards according to the experimental conditions.
The use in MRI is impossible, due to the sensors (electrode patches and RIP bands) that are made in metal.
Yes, the system can be used in animal facilities with different sanitary status: conventionnel, SPF/EOPS et SOPF…*
It is possible to include sterilization of your material prior delivery to your environment. It has to be ordered with your material purchase order.
It is also possible to sterilize it with your abilities by H2O2 nebulisation before entering the animal facility. Warning: the DECRO system is not compatible with a sterilization by the autoclave.
*The electronic equipment (server, emitter and battery) and the dressing tool can only be sterilized by H202. The jackets are sterilizable under H2O2 or by ionizing rays.
4 solutions are actually available:
– DECRO Start 1: to monitor only 1 animal
– DECRO Start 2: to monitor 2 animals simultaneously
– DECRO Advanced 4: to monitor up to 4 animals simultaneously
– DECRO Advanced 8: to monitor up to 8 animals simultaneously
Jacket
Sizes could varie depending on the strains, age/weight and sex. We propose size grids freely available on our website (available here). We recommend you to estimate the weight reached by your animals on the day of the carrying out of your protocol. Indeed, you must anticipate the fact that the weight will change according to your experimental conditions and housing.
Prefer ordering multiple sizes of jackets to offset weight variations and not to find yourself short-handed on the day of your tests.
The recommendation is to use a jacket for one animal for a study. It is not recommended to use it on another animal to avoid odor crossing and therefore increase stress. This material is a consumable, it is not guaranteed. Washing is not recommended and autoclave is prohibited.
Contact us if you want a quote.
DECRO jackets can be purchased for other uses than physiological monitoring, such as to protect a catheter or a wound after surgery. In this case, the jacket will be “nude”, without sensor. It is available for different species from rats to minipigs.
As we design and prototype our jackets, feel free to contact us if you’ve got specific demand.
The jacket is a consumable: you can replenish your supply of consumables on our website. Etisense is the only supplier of jacket compatible with the DECRO solution, you can contact us for a quote or an order here.
The longest duration tested is 48 hours with no clinical sign of alteration of the animal’s behavior (no irritation, no weight loss, no loss of hair, no isolation or prostration of the animals), and no damage to the equipment. The wearing period can be longer than 48h if it doesn’t affect animal welfare or the study results, but we advise to un-equip the animals if the recordings are spread over several days to allow the animals to clean themselves but also to control the hair growth and avoid the loss of adhesion of the electrodes (if an ECG is recorded).
To help you anticipate changes of jacket size during a study with repeated measurement over time, there is a size chart available on our website (here). When the equipment procedure becomes complicated, it means animals are between two sizes. It is then necessary to go to the next size up.
Our jackets must fit the animal to provide good respiratory signals and maintain the ECG patches. From experience, one jacket can fit a rat 4 to 5 weeks, but this value is dependent of animal age and growth. You can refer to the size’s chart available on our website to review your specific case (here).
Hardware
The battery has an autonomy of 12 hours for continuous recordings and is rechargeable with a USB cable. The battery is fully charged after 3 hours.
Yes, they are. The emitter is provided with two USB rechargeable and replaceable batteries. They are reusable without repackaging.
Two ways are possible. First, each emitter is delivered with 2 batteries, allowing you to monitor for 12h with the first battery and to replace it with the second battery for the 12 next hours. Then, if you don’t need to monitor your animal continuously, the software allows you to schedule your acquisitions at fixed time, and so to save the battery life.
Software
No, the software is Plug & Play. It means that it is embedded in the acquisition server. You just need to open a web browser to access the software (as a gateway) but it doesn’t require an internet connection.
Yes, the solution is totally scalable. As long as new functionalities become available, you may be willing to upgrade your system. Our proprietary software is built to facilitate these upgrades installation, remotely.
Raw and calculated data are stored in non-proprietary format and remain available at any time. They can be exported in various formats: xls, csv or hdf5 for further analysis, backup or archiving.
Yes, thanks to additional modules that can be added on our software, our solution is GLP compliant. Those two modules are:
– The Audit Trail Module: implementing an audit trail for the system and the studies
– The User Authentication and Permission Module: implementing user authentication and permission management based on roles assigned to users