Automatic cage changing device for experimental mice and cage changing method thereof

Abstract

The present invention discloses an automatic cage changing device for experimental mice, comprising a workbench on which cage boxes are placed, an image recognition component located above the workbench for identifying cage box positions and the states of experimental mice in the cage boxes, and a cage changing component located on one side of the workbench, wherein dirty cage boxes and clean cage boxes are placed on the workbench, the cage changing component has a mechanical arm, and a moving component installed at the end of the mechanical arm, wherein the moving component moves the experimental mice in the dirty cage boxes to the clean cage boxes under the drive of the mechanical arm, and simultaneously screens out experimental mice without vital signs. The present invention realizes the automatic cage changing operation of experimental mice, and simultaneously automatically screens out abnormal experimental mice, thereby improving the cage changing efficiency, and the automated operation does not require personnel access, thereby ensuring the safety of the operator.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of production and use of experimental animals, and in particular to an automatic cage changing device for experimental mice and a cage changing method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Biosafety IVC cages / open cages are used for animal husbandry in high-level viral experiments. Since the cages need to be cleaned regularly during the breeding process, cage changes are necessary to ensure the smooth and continuous progress of the experiment. Currently, cage changes are performed manually within a standard clean bench, cage changing workstation, clean area, biosafety isolator, or sterile mouse isolation bag. When the test article or laboratory mouse itself is infected with extremely dangerous and potentially lethal viruses, manual cage changes can easily contaminate the surrounding environment and the operator, and there is also a risk of bites and scratches on the operator, endangering their life and health.

[0003] To address this issue, the patented biosafety cage changing platform (application number 2021106010384) sets the cage changing operation into an independent cavity, and uses negative pressure to prevent the overflow of internal viruses or other odors to ensure the safety of operators. However, the cage changing platform in this patent still requires manual cage changing operations, and does not realize automated cage changing operations. The patented automated cage-moving and mouse-moving workbench (2019102346651) realizes automatic cage changing operations, but it is aimed at conventional mouse cages and uses relative entry and exit doors to allow experimental mice to move from old mouse cages to new mouse cages on their own. This method is relatively inefficient and it is difficult to accurately control the direction of mouse movement. At the same time, for IVC type cages, automatic cage changing operations cannot be realized. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Purpose of the invention: In order to address the deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides an automatic cage changing device for experimental mice and a cage changing method thereof, which can realize automatic cage changing of caged experimental mice and automatically screen out abnormal experimental mice, thereby improving the cage changing efficiency. At the same time, the automated operation does not require human intervention, thereby ensuring the safety of the operator.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is: an automatic cage changing device for experimental mice, including a workbench for placing cage boxes, an image recognition component located above the workbench for identifying the position of the cage boxes and the status of the experimental mice in the cage boxes, and a cage changing component located on one side of the workbench. Dirty cage boxes and clean cage boxes are placed on the workbench. The cage changing component has a robotic arm and a moving component installed at the end of the robotic arm. The moving component, driven by the robotic arm, moves the experimental mice in the dirty cage boxes to the clean cage boxes, and at the same time screens out the experimental mice without vital signs.

[0006] Preferably, the image recognition component includes a first visual camera and a second visual camera. The first visual camera obtains the position of the cage, and the second visual camera performs AI recognition on the experimental mouse in the cage to obtain the spatial coordinates and vital signs information of the experimental mouse.

[0007] Preferably, the moving assembly includes a fixed seat, a first moving member installed on one end face of the fixed seat, and a second moving member installed on the other end face of the fixed seat. The first moving member is used to capture all the experimental mice in the cage as a whole, and the second moving member is used to capture experimental mice with no vital signs.

[0008] Preferably, the first moving member includes a driving member, a first arc-shaped claw and a second arc-shaped claw. The driving member is built into the fixed seat. The first arc-shaped claw and the second arc-shaped claw are symmetrically arranged at the end surface of the fixed seat and are connected to the driving member through a connecting member. The driving member controls the first arc-shaped claw and the second arc-shaped claw to separate from each other to open, or to move closer to each other to merge.

[0009] Preferably, the first arc-shaped claw and the second arc-shaped claw both include a cross bar, arc-shaped claw strips arranged at equal intervals on the cross bar, and baffles arranged at the arc-shaped claw strips on both sides. The ends of the arc-shaped claw strips are covered with protective covers. When the first arc-shaped claw and the second arc-shaped claw are separated, the ends of the arc-shaped claw strips are inserted downward along the inner wall of the cage box. When the baffles on both sides and the arc-shaped claw strips are combined, a wrapping area for accommodating experimental mice is formed.

[0010] Preferably, the second moving member is a pneumatic gripper or a vacuum nozzle.

[0011] Preferably, a disinfection component is also installed on the fixing seat to disinfect the first moving member and the second moving member.

[0012] A method for automatically changing cages of experimental mice, comprising the following steps:

[0013] A. Place the dirty and clean cages on the workbench using a mechanical gripper or other method. The position of the cages is limited by the limit plate. The first visual camera then acquires the position coordinates of the two cages and feeds them back to the control device.

[0014] B. The second vision camera performs AI recognition on the experimental mouse in the cage, obtains the three-dimensional coordinates and vital signs of the experimental mouse, and feeds them back to the control device;

[0015] C. The control device controls the robotic arm to drive the transport assembly to move above the dirty cage. If there are any experimental mice with abnormal vital signs, the second transport assembly will first grab the experimental mice without vital signs and send them to the recycling area. The disinfection assembly will disinfect the second transport assembly as a whole, and then control the first transport assembly to move the remaining experimental mice in the dirty cage to the clean cage.

[0016] D. If there are no experimental mice with abnormal vital signs, move all experimental mice to clean cages directly using the first moving component;

[0017] E. After the move is completed, the entire moving component is disinfected through the disinfection component, and then wait for the next cage change operation.

[0018] Beneficial effects: The automatic cage-changing device for laboratory mice disclosed in the present invention has the following beneficial effects: it uses two sets of visual cameras for image recognition, which not only obtains the position of the cage box and the laboratory mouse, but also simultaneously identifies the vital signs of the laboratory mouse to determine whether there are abnormal laboratory mice;

[0019] The gripper-shaped moving component is designed to simulate manual bottom-picking to achieve the overall movement of the laboratory mouse. The front protective cover design avoids harm to the laboratory mouse. At the same time, the wrapping structure can achieve complete grasping of the laboratory mouse, preventing the laboratory mouse from falling or escaping during movement.

[0020] The second moving component can accurately capture abnormal experimental mice individually, ensuring that all cages after cage replacement are filled with normal experimental mice, eliminating the trouble of manual operation and reducing operational risks.

[0021] The disinfection components can achieve overall disinfection, ensuring the cleanliness of the components every time the cage is changed, and avoiding cross-influence between each other;

[0022] The entire device can realize the automatic cage changing operation of experimental mice in IVC cages or open cages in isolation bags. At the same time, it can also realize automatic screening of abnormal experimental mice and automatic disinfection functions, which improves the efficiency of cage changing operations and ensures the safety of operators. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the overall structure of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Middle partial schematic diagram;

[0025] Figure 3 This is a structural diagram of the first transport member in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 4 This is a front view of the first transport member in an embodiment of the present invention. Implementation Method

[0027] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of the present invention.

[0028] The present invention discloses an automatic cage-changing device for experimental mice, which can automatically change the cages of experimental mice in the cage box, screen out experimental mice without vital signs, and perform self-disinfection after the cage is changed. The specific structure is as follows: Figures 1 and 2 As shown, it includes a workbench 1 for placing cages, an image recognition component 2 located above the workbench for identifying the position of the cages and the status of the experimental mice in the cages, and a cage changing component 3 located on one side of the workbench. Dirty cages and clean cages are placed on the workbench. The image recognition component identifies the positions of the two cages, the spatial coordinates of the experimental mice in the dirty cages, and the vital signs of the experimental mice. The cage changing component has a robotic arm and a moving component installed at the end of the robotic arm. The moving component, driven by the robotic arm, moves the experimental mice in the dirty cages to the clean cages, and at the same time screens out the experimental mice without vital signs.

[0029] Specifically, the workbench has a table top for placing cages, and a limit plate 101 is provided on the table top. A fixing frame 102 for installing an image recognition component is provided on the table top. Two cages are placed on the table top, and the two sides are limited by the lower limit plate. The experimental mice placed inside climb and move, causing the cages to shift, resulting in inaccurate recognition. In actual use, the cages can be automatically placed on the table top in conjunction with structures such as conveyor belts and loading robots to realize unmanned cage changing operations.

[0030] The image recognition component includes a first visual camera and a second visual camera, wherein the first visual camera is installed on a fixed frame above the cage placement position, and is used to identify the cage position coordinates and feed back to the control system. The control system controls the robotic arm of the cage changing component according to the fed-back coordinates. The second visual camera can be installed on the fixed frame or on the robotic arm according to actual needs, and is used to perform AI recognition of the experimental mice in the cage, obtain the spatial coordinates and vital signs information of the experimental mice, and feed back to the control system to facilitate the effective movement of the moving component, and at the same time screen out the experimental mice with abnormal vital signs reported.

[0031] The cage changing assembly can be directly mounted on the workbench, or a base 301 can be provided at the bottom. The base is a movable structure, which can be moved to the side of the workbench when cage changing operation is required. The cage changing assembly structure includes a robotic arm 302 and a moving assembly 303 fixed to the end of the robotic arm. The robotic arm can realize six-axis free rotation according to the control program. The moving assembly includes a fixed seat 304, a first moving member 305 mounted on one end face of the fixed seat, and a second moving member 306 mounted on the other end face of the fixed seat. The first moving member is used to grab all the experimental mice in the cage box as a whole for moving, while the second moving member is used to specifically grab the experimental mice without vital signs and screen them out in advance to ensure that the experimental mice in the clean cage box are all experimental mice with normal life characteristics.

[0032] The first moving assembly realizes the overall grasping, and its specific structure is as follows Figures 3 and 4 As shown, it includes a driving member (not shown) built into the fixing base, a first arc-shaped claw 307 and a second arc-shaped claw 308 connected to the driving member via a connecting member 313, the first arc-shaped claw and the second arc-shaped claw are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the fixing base, and are controlled by the driving member to separate from each other to open, or to move closer to each other to merge, the first arc-shaped claw and the second arc-shaped claw each include a crossbar 309, arc-shaped claw strips 310 arranged at equal intervals on the crossbar, and baffles 311 arranged on the arc-shaped claw strips on both sides, the crossbar is connected to the driving member via a connecting member, and a certain gap is provided between the arc-shaped claw strips to facilitate the bottom bedding to fall through the gap during grasping, ensuring that only the laboratory mouse is grasped and avoiding the simultaneous removal of dirty bedding, the end of the arc-shaped claw strip is provided with a protective cover 312 to prevent the laboratory mouse from being scratched during grasping, the baffles are located on the arc-shaped claw strips on both sides, so that when the laboratory mouse is merged, a wrapping area for accommodating the laboratory mouse is formed between the baffles on both sides and the arc-shaped claw strip to prevent the laboratory mouse from escaping.

[0033] The first moving component realizes an operation that simulates manually picking up the experimental mouse. In order to ensure that the experimental mouse is located in the claw when the arc-shaped claw is lowered, the first arc-shaped claw and the second arc-shaped claw are in a separated state, and the end of the arc-shaped claw bar is inserted downward along the inner wall of the cage box. This ensures that the experimental mouse is in the wrapping area when it is grabbed.

[0034] The second transport component is used to screen out experimental mice with no vital signs. In order to reduce the volume, it is installed at different angles on the same robotic arm with the first transport component, so that the robotic arm can be shared. Of course, a separate robotic arm can also be set up for operation. The specific second transport component can use a pneumatic gripper to clamp the experimental mice, or use a vacuum nozzle to suck out the experimental mice.

[0035] In order to improve the cleanliness during use, a disinfection component (not shown) can also be set on the fixed seat to disinfect the first moving part and the second moving part. The specific means can be high-pressure gas disinfection, ultraviolet disinfection, etc. The entire part is disinfected after each experimental mouse is moved to ensure the safety of each move.

[0036] In addition, the device is also provided with a control device (located inside the workbench) for receiving information feedback from the image recognition component, and performing corresponding control on the robotic arm, the first moving component, the second moving component and the disinfection component to realize automated operation.

[0037] The present invention discloses a method for automatically changing cages of experimental mice, the steps of which are as follows:

[0038] A. Place the dirty and clean cages on the workbench using a mechanical gripper or other method. The position of the cages is limited by the limit plate. The first visual camera then acquires the position coordinates of the two cages and feeds them back to the control device.

[0039] B. The second vision camera performs AI recognition on the experimental mouse in the cage, obtains the three-dimensional coordinates and vital signs of the experimental mouse, and feeds them back to the control device;

[0040] C. The control device controls the robotic arm to drive the transport assembly to move above the dirty cage. If there are any experimental mice with abnormal vital signs, the second transport assembly will first grab the experimental mice without vital signs and send them to the recycling area. The disinfection assembly will disinfect the second transport assembly as a whole, and then control the first transport assembly to move the remaining experimental mice in the dirty cage to the clean cage.

[0041] D. If there are no experimental mice with abnormal vital signs, move all experimental mice to clean cages directly using the first moving component;

[0042] E. After the move is completed, the entire moving component is disinfected through the disinfection component, and then wait for the next cage change operation.

[0043] The technical content and technical features of the present invention have been disclosed as above. However, those skilled in the art may still make various substitutions and modifications based on the teachings and disclosures of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should not be limited to the contents disclosed in the embodiments, but should include various substitutions and modifications that do not depart from the present invention and are covered by the claims of this patent application.

Claims

1. An automatic cage changing device for experimental mice, characterized in that: It includes a workbench for placing IVC cages, an image recognition component located above the workbench for identifying cage positions and the status of experimental mice in the cages, and a cage changing component located on one side of the workbench, wherein a dirty IVC cage and a clean IVC cage are placed on the workbench, the image recognition component includes a first visual camera and a second visual camera, the first visual camera obtains the positions of the dirty IVC cage and the clean IVC cage, the second visual camera performs AI recognition on the experimental mice in the dirty IVC cage to obtain the spatial coordinates and vital signs information of the experimental mice, the cage changing component has a mechanical arm, and a moving component installed at the end of the mechanical arm, the moving component moves the experimental mice in the dirty IVC cage to the clean IVC cage under the drive of the mechanical arm, and simultaneously screens out experimental mice without vital signs; the moving component includes a fixing seat, a first moving member installed on one end face of the fixing seat, and a moving member installed on the end face of the fixing seat. A second moving member on the other end face of the fixed seat, the first moving member is used to grab all the experimental mice in the cage as a whole, and the second moving member is used to grab the experimental mice without vital signs, the first moving member includes a driving member, a first arc-shaped claw and a second arc-shaped claw, the driving member is built in the fixed seat, the first arc-shaped claw and the second arc-shaped claw are symmetrically arranged at the end face of the fixed seat, and are connected to the driving member through a connecting member, and the first arc-shaped claw and the second arc-shaped claw are controlled by the driving member to separate from each other to open, or to move closer to each other to merge, the first arc-shaped claw and the second arc-shaped claw both include a cross bar, arc-shaped claw strips arranged at equal intervals on the cross bar, and baffles arranged at the arc-shaped claw strips on both sides, the end of the arc-shaped claw strip is covered with a protective cover, when the first arc-shaped claw and the second arc-shaped claw are separated, the end of the arc-shaped claw strip is inserted downward along the inner wall of the cage, and a wrapping area for accommodating experimental mice is formed between the baffles on both sides and the arc-shaped claw strip in the merged state.

2. The automatic cage changing device for experimental mice according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second moving member is a pneumatic clamp.

3. The automatic cage changing device for experimental mice according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fixing seat is also provided with a disinfection component for disinfecting the first moving member and the second moving member.

4. A cage changing method based on the automatic cage changing device for experimental mice according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The steps include: A. Place the dirty IVC cage box and the clean IVC cage box on the workbench with a mechanical claw or other means, and limit the position of the cage box with a limit plate. At this time, the first visual camera obtains the position coordinates of the two cage boxes and feeds them back to the control device; B. The second vision camera performs AI recognition on the experimental mice in the IVC cage, obtains the three-dimensional coordinates and vital signs of the experimental mice, and feeds back to the control device; C. The control device controls the mechanical arm to drive the moving assembly to move above the dirty IVC cage. If there are experimental mice with abnormal vital signs, the experimental mice without vital signs are first grabbed by the second moving assembly and sent to the recycling place. The disinfection assembly on the fixed seat disinfects the second moving assembly as a whole, and then controls the first moving assembly to uniformly move the remaining experimental mice in the dirty IVC cage to the clean IVC cage; D. If there are no experimental mice with abnormal vital signs, all experimental mice are moved to clean cages directly through the first moving component; E. After the move is completed, use the disinfection component to disinfect the entire moving component, and then wait for the next cage change operation.

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