Animal transfer device for small animal behavioristics research
By designing an animal transfer device for small animal behavior research, the existing optogenetics experimental platform is solved, and the problem of insufficient adaptability of small animals is achieved, fast and safe experimental preparation and low-cost and efficient experiments are achieved, reducing small animals The risk of waste and misoperation.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202421038330.5
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-05-14
- Publication Date
- 2024-12-27
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-05-14
AI Technical Summary
The existing optogenetics experimental platform is mainly designed for rodents, lacks adaptability to small animals, and has no special optogenetics experimental platform design.
A small animal transfer device for animal behavior research was designed, including a laboratory bench, barrier sheet, cover sheet and limit base plate, which was prepared using transparent material, so that the safety and speed of small animals can be achieved through the design of barrier slot holes and loading holes. Transfer and set up a feeding tank on the base of the lab table to simulate foraging behavior.
It improves the experimental preparation efficiency, reduces the waste of small animals, reduces the risk of misoperation through the use of transparent materials, and has a flexible and variable structure and low cost, making it suitable for modification of high-throughput laboratory benches.
Smart Images
Figure CN222236098U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The utility model belongs to the technical field of animal behavior and optogenetics, and in particular relates to an animal transfer device for small animal behavior research. Background Art
[0002] In the past, scientists' research on insect nervous systems has brought a lot of progress in the fields of agricultural and forestry pest control, basic medicine, etc. With the emergence of emerging technologies such as brain-computer interfaces, artificial neural networks, and intelligent robots, people are more curious about the working principles of insect neural networks. The research on insect neural networks mainly includes behavioral, anatomical, and physiological methods. Among them, behavioral methods are widely used because of their ease of operation and rich tools.
[0003] Among them, optogenetics is one of the commonly used techniques in animal behavior. It uses gene editing to express light-sensitive transmembrane proteins on the surface of specific neuronal cell membranes, allowing specific neuronal cells to exhibit light-sensitive properties without changing other physiological characteristics of the cells.
[0004] Based on the above technology, the patent document with publication number CN102283137A discloses an animal behavior test platform regulated by optogenetics, including: a central control system, an environmental control system, a behavioral monitoring system, a photoelectric detection and control system and a shell device for fixing the above systems; the central control system is connected to the environmental control system, the behavioral monitoring system and the photoelectric detection and control system, and is used to control the environmental control system, the behavioral monitoring system and the photoelectric detection and control system; the environmental control system is used to control the lighting, gas environment, temperature and humidity conditions of the test platform; the behavioral monitoring system is used to monitor and analyze the behavior of the test animals, and feed back the analysis results to the central control system; the photoelectric detection and control system is used to perform light regulation and electrophysiological signal detection on the test animals, and feed back the detected electrophysiological signals to the central control system.
[0005] In addition, the patent document with publication number CN106073772A discloses an animal neural function detection platform based on optogenetics-electrophysiological technology, comprising a laser detection and control device, an electrophysiological signal recording system (2) and a central control system (3), characterized in that the laser detection and control device is used to perform laser stimulation with adjustable position and parameters on the primary motor cortex of the test animal; the electrophysiological signal recording system (2) is used to record the response signal of the target muscle of the test animal after stimulation, and feed the response signal back to the central control system (3); the central control system (3) draws a primary motor cortex representative area map according to the movement and response signal of the test animal induced by the laser detection and control device stimulating the test animal.
[0006] However, based on current research, most optogenetic experimental platforms are designed for rodents and have poor adaptability to small animals, and there are no optogenetic experimental platforms specifically designed for small animals. Utility Model Content
[0007] The utility model aims to provide an animal transfer device for small animal behavior research, so as to solve the problem of lack of design and research on small animal optogenetics experimental platform or device in the prior art.
[0008] In order to achieve the above-mentioned utility model purpose, the utility model adopts the following technical solutions:
[0009] The utility model provides an animal transfer device for small animal behavior research, comprising an experimental table, a laboratory table base with a plurality of placement slots on the top surface and a laboratory table top plate used to cover the placement slots when in use, wherein the laboratory table top plate is provided with a plurality of blocking slots corresponding to the placement slots, and the laboratory table top plate is provided with a loading hole for placing the experimental small animal into the placement slot on both sides of the blocking slot corresponding to the placement slot; when in use, the laboratory table top plate has a loading state in which the blocking slots and the loading holes are connected to the placement slots, and a loading state in which the blocking slots and the loading holes are not connected to the placement slots after translation;
[0010] The barrier sheet, when in use, has a bottom portion inserted into the barrier slot hole and divides the placement slot into two sides through which the experimental small animals cannot pass;
[0011] A cover sheet, which is used to cover the loading hole after loading the small animal into the experiment;
[0012] A limiting bottom plate, the top surface of which has a placement area for placing the experimental table, and the placement area has a positioning mechanism for positioning the experimental table;
[0013] The top plate and cover plate of the experimental platform are made of transparent materials.
[0014] As a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the laboratory bench base includes a laboratory bench bottom plate and a laboratory bench middle plate which are arranged from bottom to top when in use, and a plurality of placement holes are provided on the laboratory bench middle plate. When the laboratory bench bottom plate and the laboratory bench middle plate are stacked, the placement holes use the top surface of the laboratory bench bottom plate as the bottom surface to form the placement groove, and the laboratory bench bottom plate is made of transparent material.
[0015] As a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, two loading holes corresponding to the same placement slot are located at different sides of the two ends of the blocking slot, and the two loading holes are connected to the blocking slot. Designing the three to be connected facilitates processing on the one hand, and on the other hand, the blocking slot is located at the diameter position of the corresponding placement slot, so that the loading hole and the blocking slot are connected, and when the experimental small animal is loaded through the loading hole, it can be ensured that the experimental small animal falls into the central area of the placement slot.
[0016] As a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, a feeding trough is provided on the bottom surface of the placement trough for placing animal food. The provision of the feeding trough can be used to explore the behavioral state of neurons related to foraging of small animals when exposed to light.
[0017] As a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the placement slots on the base of the experimental table include multiple rows and columns distributed in a matrix.
[0018] The tops of the barrier sheets corresponding to each row of placement slots are extended and connected into one piece, and the cover sheets corresponding to each row of placement slots are also extended and connected into one piece. The tops of the barrier sheets in each row are connected into one piece, so that the bottoms of the barrier sheets in one row can be inserted into the corresponding placement slots at one time; the cover sheets in each row are connected into one piece so that the cover sheets can be inserted into the cover sheet slots in the row from one end opening at one time.
[0019] As a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the positioning mechanism includes two pairs of limiting protrusions provided on the top surface of the limiting bottom plate, the laboratory table is inserted between the two pairs of limiting protrusions, two of the same pair of limiting protrusions are respectively located on both sides of the laboratory table, and one of each of the two pairs of limiting protrusions corresponds to the two ends of the same side of the laboratory table;
[0020] The placement grooves are arranged in a row along the limiting direction of the limiting protrusions.
[0021] As a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the positioning mechanism further comprises a baffle plate arranged on the top surface of the limiting bottom plate, the baffle plate is located on one side of the experimental table, and the baffle plate has an avoidance hole for the top plate of the experimental table to pass through, and the baffle plate is located below the avoidance hole to block and limit the base of the experimental table;
[0022] When the top plate of the laboratory bench is flush with the base of the laboratory bench at one end of the baffle, the top plate of the laboratory bench is in a loaded state; when loading is completed, the top plate of the laboratory bench is moved toward the avoidance hole so that the top plate of the laboratory bench is flush with the base of the laboratory bench away from the end of the baffle, and the top plate of the laboratory bench is in a loaded state.
[0023] As a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, a cover sheet groove for accommodating the cover sheet is provided on the contact surface between the top plate of the laboratory bench and the base of the laboratory bench, and the cover sheet groove is provided in at least one of the side openings of the top plate of the laboratory bench.
[0024] As a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, it further comprises a catheter with openings at both ends, wherein the inner diameter of the catheter is sufficient for the small animals in the experiment to pass through, the top end of the catheter has an enlarged diameter section with an enlarged inner diameter, and the outer diameter of the bottom end of the catheter is smaller than the diameter of the loading hole.
[0025] When in use, the bottom end of the catheter extends into the loading hole, and the small animal to be tested is placed in the enlarged diameter section, and the small animal to be tested enters the placement slot through the catheter.
[0026] The small animals in the experiment of the utility model can be fruit flies, bees, cockroaches, preferably fruit flies.
[0027] Compared with the prior art, the utility model has the following beneficial effects:
[0028] 1. Short preparation time. The animal transfer device designed by the utility model arranges the experimental table on the top surface of the limiting bottom plate, and uses the cover plate, barrier plate and other mechanisms to greatly improve the efficiency of experimental preparation when loading small animals, better control experimental variables, and improve the credibility of behavioral experimental results.
[0029] 2. Reduce the waste of small animals in the experiment. The utility model provides transparent materials to allow the state and position of the small animals in the experiment to be monitored throughout the entire process. After skilled operation, the small animals in the experiment are less likely to be injured or killed due to misoperation during the transfer process.
[0030] 3. Low cost and flexible structure. The utility model is made of acrylic plate, iron sheet and rubber-tipped dropper, which is reusable and low cost. The size of the transfer device can be flexibly modified according to the high-throughput experimental table. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0031] Figure 1 It is a front view of the experimental table provided by the embodiment of the utility model.
[0032] Figure 2 It is a front view of the top plate of the experimental table provided by the utility model.
[0033] Figure 3 It is an exploded view of the experimental platform provided by the utility model.
[0034] Figure 4 It is a front exploded schematic diagram of the barrier sheet provided by the utility model.
[0035] Figure 5It is a structural schematic diagram of the cover sheet provided by the utility model.
[0036] Figure 6 It is a side view of the top plate of the experimental table provided by the utility model.
[0037] Figure 7 It is a structural schematic diagram of the limiting bottom plate provided by the utility model.
[0038] Figure 8 It is a structural schematic diagram of the catheter provided by the utility model.
[0039] Fig. 9 The utility model provides a schematic diagram of the structure of assembling a test bench onto a limiting bottom plate for loading small animals for experiments.
[0040] Reference numerals:
[0041] 1 represents a laboratory table, 11 represents a laboratory table base, 111 represents a laboratory table bottom plate, 1111 represents a food trough, 112 represents a laboratory table middle plate, 1121 represents a placement hole, 12 represents a laboratory table top plate, 121 represents a loading hole, 122 represents a blocking slot hole, and 123 represents a cover sheet slot;
[0042] 2 indicates a barrier sheet; 3 indicates a cover sheet;
[0043] 4 represents a limiting bottom plate, 41 represents a placement area, 42 represents a positioning mechanism, 421 represents a limiting protruding foot, 422 represents a baffle, and 423 represents an avoidance hole;
[0044] 5 denotes a catheter, and 51 denotes an expanded diameter section. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0045] like Figures 1 to 7 As shown, an animal transfer device for small animal behavior research comprises: an experimental table 1, comprising an experimental table base 11 with a plurality of placement slots on the top surface and an experimental table top plate 12 used to cover the placement slots when in use, the experimental table top plate 12 is provided with a plurality of blocking slots 122 corresponding to each placement slot, and the experimental table top plate 12 is provided with a loading hole 121 for placing the experimental small animal into the placement slot on both sides of the blocking slot 122 corresponding to each placement slot; when in use, the experimental table top plate 12 has a loading state in which the blocking slot 122 and the loading hole 121 are connected to the placement slots, and a loaded state in which the blocking slot 122 and the loading hole 121 are not connected to the placement slots after translation;
[0046] The barrier sheet 2, when in use, has its bottom inserted into the barrier slot hole 122 and divides the placement slot into two sides through which the experimental small animals cannot pass;
[0047] A cover sheet 3, used to cover the loading hole 121 after loading the small animal for the experiment;
[0048] A limiting bottom plate 4, the top surface of which has a placement area 41 for placing the experimental table, and the placement area 41 has a positioning mechanism 42 for positioning the experimental table 1;
[0049] The experimental table top plate 12 and the cover plate 3 are made of transparent material.
[0050] Specifically, Figure 2 As shown, on the top plate 12 of the experimental table, corresponding to the position of the placement slot on the base 11 of the experimental table, two loading holes 121 and one blocking slot hole 122 are provided, wherein the blocking slot hole 122 is located at the diameter position corresponding to the placement slot, and the two loading holes 121 of the same placement slot are located on different sides at both ends of the blocking slot hole 122, and the two loading holes 121 are connected to the blocking slot hole 122.
[0051] like Figure 3 As shown, Figure 3 This is an exploded view of the experimental table 1, which has a total of three layers. The middle layer is the experimental table middle plate 112, and the bottom layer is the experimental table bottom plate 111. On the experimental table bottom plate 111, a food trough 1111 corresponding to each placement slot is set for placing food, so that optogenetic behavior experiments related to foraging of experimental small animals can be carried out. The experimental table bottom plate 111 is made of transparent material, which is convenient for the laser and infrared light at the bottom to pass through the experimental table bottom plate 111 and irradiate into the placement slot in the optogenetic behavior experiment.
[0052] The experimental table middle plate 112 has multiple rows and columns of placement holes 1121 distributed in a matrix. The experimental table middle plate 112 is placed on the experimental table bottom plate 111 so that the placement holes 1121 use the top surface of the experimental table bottom plate 111 as the bottom surface to form a placement groove.
[0053] like Figure 4 As shown, Figure 4 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the barrier sheet 2. The tops of each row of barrier sheets 2 are connected and in a line. When in use, the bottoms of a whole row of barrier sheets 2 are inserted into the barrier slots 122 to complete the area division of the corresponding placement slots.
[0054] like Figures 5-6 As shown, Figure 5 3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the cover sheet 3. It can be seen that in this embodiment, according to the prepared 4×4 experimental table top plate 12, the cover sheets are correspondingly distributed at the two ends of each blocking slot 122, so there are 8 covers in total. Figure 6 It can be seen that a cover sheet slot 123 for accommodating the cover sheet 3 is provided on the side of the top plate 12 of the experimental table.
[0055] like Figure 7As shown, a placement area 41 is provided on the limiting bottom plate 4, and a positioning mechanism 42 for fixing the experimental table 1 is provided on the placement area 41. Two pairs of limiting protrusions 321 are also distributed on the positioning mechanism 42. When loading the small animals for the experiment, the experimental table base 11 is inserted between the two pairs of limiting protrusions 321, and then a baffle 322 is provided on the placement area 41, and an avoidance hole 323 is also provided on the baffle 322.
[0056] like Figure 8 As shown, it is a catheter 5 for loading small animals for experiments, wherein 51 represents the expanded diameter section of the catheter. When loading, the expanded diameter section 51 on the catheter 5 has a larger diameter, and the small animal for the experiment is loaded into the expanded diameter section 51, and the other end of the catheter 5 is inserted into any loading hole 121. The small animal for the experiment crawls along the catheter 5 and passes through the loading hole 121 to be placed in the slot.
[0057] The animal transfer device proposed in the utility model can meet the small animal transfer needs of fruit flies, bees, and cockroaches. In this embodiment, fruit flies are used as small animals for experiments. Fig. 9 As shown, when transferring fruit flies, firstly, the laboratory table base 11 is clamped between the two pairs of limiting protrusions 321 on the positioning mechanism 42, and food is placed in the food trough 1111 on the laboratory table bottom plate 111. Then the laboratory table top plate 12 passes through the avoidance hole 423. When the laboratory table top plate 12 and the laboratory table base 11 are flush at one end of the baffle 422, the loading hole 121 on the laboratory table top plate 12 is aligned with the placement slot on the laboratory table base 11, that is, the laboratory table top plate 12 is in a loading state.
[0058] Insert the bottom end of the barrier sheet 2 into the barrier slot 122 to divide the placement slot into two areas that the experimental small animals cannot pass through. Then insert the catheter 5 into the loading holes 121 corresponding to the two areas in turn, put the fruit flies into the enlarged diameter section 51, and after the fruit flies enter their respective areas, insert the cover sheet 3 into the cover sheet slot 123, so that the loading holes 121 and the placement slot of the two areas form a closed space.
[0059] Then, the barrier sheet 2 is removed, and the top plate 12 of the experimental platform is moved toward the avoidance hole 423 until the top plate 12 and the base 11 of the experimental platform are flush at the end away from the baffle 322, and the loading hole 121 on the top plate 12 of the experimental platform is staggered with the corresponding placement groove below, and the top plate 12 of the experimental platform is in a loaded state. The experimental platform 1 is removed from the limiting bottom plate 4, and subsequent optogenetic behavior experiments are carried out.
[0060] In order to facilitate subsequent optogenetic behavior experiments, the top plate and cover plate of the experimental table proposed in the utility model are both made of transparent materials.
Claims
1. An animal transfer device for small animal behavioral research, characterized in that: include: An experimental table, comprising an experimental table base with a plurality of placement slots on the top surface and an experimental table top plate used to cover the placement slots when in use, wherein the experimental table top plate is provided with a plurality of blocking slot holes corresponding to the placement slots, and the experimental table top plate is provided with a loading hole for placing an experimental small animal into the placement slot on both sides of the blocking slot hole corresponding to each placement slot; when in use, the experimental table top plate has a loading state in which the blocking slot holes and the loading holes are connected to the placement slots, and a loaded state in which the blocking slot holes and the loading holes are not connected to the placement slots after translation; The barrier sheet, when in use, has a bottom portion inserted into the barrier slot hole and divides the placement slot into two sides through which the experimental small animals cannot pass; A cover sheet, which is used to cover the loading hole after loading the small animal into the experiment; A limiting bottom plate, the top surface of which has a placement area for placing the experimental table, and the placement area has a positioning mechanism for positioning the experimental table; The top plate and cover plate of the experimental platform are made of transparent materials.
2. The animal transfer device for small animal behavioral research according to claim 1, characterized in that: The experimental bench base includes an experimental bench bottom plate and an experimental bench middle plate which are arranged from bottom to top when in use. The experimental bench middle plate is provided with a plurality of placement holes. When the experimental bench bottom plate and the experimental bench middle plate are stacked, the placement holes use the top surface of the experimental bench bottom plate as the bottom surface to form the placement groove. The experimental bench bottom plate is made of transparent material.
3. The animal transfer device for small animal behavioral research according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The two loading holes corresponding to the same placement slot are located at different sides of the two ends of the blocking slot, and the two loading holes are communicated with the blocking slot.
4. The animal transfer device for small animal behavioral research according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The bottom surface of the placement trough is provided with a trough for placing food for animals.
5. The animal transfer device for small animal behavioral research according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The placement slots on the base of the experimental table include multiple rows and columns distributed in a matrix. The tops of the barrier sheets corresponding to each row of placement grooves are extended and connected into one piece, and the cover sheets corresponding to each row of placement grooves are also extended and connected into one piece.
6. The animal transfer device for small animal behavior research according to claim 5, characterized in that: The positioning mechanism includes two pairs of limiting protrusions provided on the top surface of the limiting bottom plate, the experimental table is inserted between the two pairs of limiting protrusions, two of the same pair of limiting protrusions are respectively located on both sides of the experimental table, and one of each of the two pairs of limiting protrusions corresponds to the two ends of the same side of the experimental table; The placement grooves are arranged in a row along the limiting direction of the limiting protrusions.
7. The animal transfer device for small animal behavioral research according to claim 6, characterized in that: The positioning mechanism also includes a baffle plate arranged on the top surface of the limiting bottom plate, the baffle plate is located on one side of the experimental table, and the baffle plate has an avoidance hole for the top plate of the experimental table to pass through, and the baffle plate is located below the avoidance hole to block and limit the base of the experimental table; When the top plate of the laboratory bench is flush with the base of the laboratory bench at one end of the baffle, the top plate of the laboratory bench is in a loaded state; when loading is completed, the top plate of the laboratory bench is moved toward the avoidance hole so that the top plate of the laboratory bench is flush with the base of the laboratory bench away from the end of the baffle, and the top plate of the laboratory bench is in a loaded state.
8. The animal transfer device for small animal behavioral research according to claim 5, characterized in that: The top plate of the laboratory table is provided with a cover sheet groove for accommodating the cover sheet on the contact surface with the base of the laboratory table, and the cover sheet groove is provided at least one side opening of the top plate of the laboratory table.
9. The animal transfer device for small animal behavioral research according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: It also includes a catheter with openings at both ends, the inner diameter of the catheter is large enough for small animals in the experiment to pass through, the top of the catheter has an enlarged diameter section with an enlarged inner diameter, and the outer diameter of the bottom end of the catheter is smaller than the diameter of the loading hole. When in use, the bottom end of the catheter extends into the loading hole, and the small animal to be tested is placed in the enlarged diameter section, and the small animal to be tested enters the placement slot through the catheter.