A locomotor measurement system for rats in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber

An automated system has been developed to measure the locomotor activities of rat in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. The chamber was designed for conducting hyperbaric oxygen therapy experiments with rats. The system consists of two pieces of resistive-type touch panel (RTTP), an electrical integrated module, RF transmitting modules and a personal computer. The detection principle of the RTTP is based on pressure effect. Because the field size of the enclosed chamber is fixed, we must select a suitable size of RTTP and design its signal-conditioning circuit with proper size. Then we collect the measured data via RF transmitting modules and a RS232 series communication port. After experiments, analysis software programmed with LabVIEW was used to compute behavior parameters. Our system has the following advantages: no need of extra light to position the rats, easy to be setup and low cost. By this novel analysis system, we can quantify behavioral disorders of the rats and offer new information for medical personnel.