Animal Cage Electrode Moisture Detection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current animal cage monitoring and control systems face challenges in scalability, reliability, and efficiency due to cost and cleaning issues, and there is a need for effective flooding detection and bedding condition monitoring to ensure the health and safety of valuable research animals.
Innovation Solution
An animal cage equipped with electrodes on the bottom for detecting moisture and water levels, allowing for automatic monitoring of bedding conditions and flooding, using conductive materials that can withstand sterilization and providing a reliable means to detect changes in electrical resistance for timely intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If active monitoring devices are deployed on a large scale, then precise measures and controls of micro-environment can be achieved, but cost and reliability issues arise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs disposable absorbent materials with embedded indicators that can be discarded after use, eliminating the need for complex electronic monitoring devices. This approach reduces cost and improves reliability by avoiding electronic failures while maintaining monitoring precision through visual or optical detection of cage conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex electronic monitoring systems with simpler optical or chemical detection mechanisms. The absorbent material changes physical or optical properties (such as color or fluorescence) in response to moisture or contamination, providing reliable detection without expensive electronics.
2Measurement precision
If sophisticated monitoring equipment is used, then cage micro-environment can be controlled, but cleaning and decontamination become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system uses disposable absorbent materials that are discarded after a single use, completely eliminating cleaning and decontamination requirements. The low cost of these disposable materials makes the approach economically viable despite the frequent replacement needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the monitoring function from complex electronic equipment and embeds it directly into the disposable absorbent material itself. This integration allows the entire monitoring system to be discarded with the bedding, eliminating separate cleaning requirements for monitoring devices.
3Reliability
If water accumulation detection is implemented, then flooding prevention can be achieved, but false alarms may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses multiple localized detection zones within the cage, each with absorbent material and indicator. By distributing detection points throughout the cage rather than using a single sensor, the system can distinguish between localized moisture (urine) and widespread flooding, reducing false alarms while maintaining high detection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The absorbent materials incorporate color-changing indicators that respond to different moisture levels. Different colors indicate different conditions (e.g., light color for normal moisture, dark color for flooding), providing unambiguous detection that eliminates false alarms through clear visual differentiation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system enables precise and reliable detection of flooding and bedding conditions, reducing resource waste and ensuring animal safety by providing objective metrics for maintaining a clean and healthy environment, thus protecting valuable research assets.
Implementation Method 1
detecting changes in electrical resistance for timely intervention
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4
AI summary
The present invention relates to an animal cage (100) comprising a base part (120) and a top (110) and suitable to housing animal, as commonly used in vivarium facilities and laboratories. The animal cage (100) according to the present invention is characterized by the fact that it comprises cage means (101) for automatically detecting the bedding conditions with respect to humidity and for promptly detecting an occurring flooding condition. More in details, the animal cage (100) according to the present invention is characterized in that said cage means comprise at least a pair of electrodes (101) provided in the bottom wall (121) of said base part (120), made of a conductive material, positioned on the external surface of said bottom wall (121) and projecting inside the cage. By measuring the electric impedance or resistance between the electrodes (101) is possible to detect the condition of the bedding or a possible flooding condition of the cage.