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3R's and emka TECHNOLOGIES

The 3 R's are guiding principles for the humane use of animals in science and were first expounded as such by Russell and Burch (1959). They may be presented as follows:

replacement: the use of non-animal methods such as cell cultures, human volunteers and computer modelling instead of animals to achieve a scientific aim.

reduction: the use of methods that enable researchers to obtain comparable amounts of information from fewer animals, or more.

refinement: the use of methods that minimise potential pain, suffering or distress, and that enhance animal welfare for those animals that cannot be replaced.

Hardware and software developed by emka TECHNOLOGIES contribute to the replacement, reduction and refinement of animal use in preclinical research. While replacement is the ultimate goal, it is not always achievable or feasible, particularly in the field of toxicology - in this case, efforts are concentrated on reduction and refinement.

replacement

new test systems are continually developed to replace whole animal models. Our flexible software is uniquely adapted to be applied to virtually any test system, including whole animal, isolated organ , isolated tissue, or any combination
where in vitro models can be used in place of whole animals, emka TECHNOLOGIES has a wide variety of systems for studying different types of tissues: myograph bath , emkaBATH and mesenteric bed systems

reduction

the acquisition of robust, reliable, and quality data help to minimize the numbers of animals needed in an experiment
iox offers real-time analysis so that any required adjustments can be made immediately, and experiments are not wasted
customers using iox for acquisition can add a video stream to their physiological data. The availability of a video stream is useful to validate events seen on signal traces
with the noninvasive emkaPACK telemetry system, or with our whole-body plethysmographs for freely moving rodents, animals can be used as their own controls over a long period of time, reducing data variance and consequently the number of animals needed per treatment group
most of our systems are designed to offer a wide range of parameters, either as standard or as add-on options. For example, the emkaPACK telemetry system has several options for the acquisition of different parameters, including ecg (1- to 7-lead), blood pressure, lung volume, activity... so you get maximum information from each animal

refinement

our range of telemetry hardware and software can be used to record and analyze ecg noninvasively from conscious freely moving animals over extended periods of time (up to 3 days when the emkaPACK transmitter is used). potential drug effects on the ecg complex are more likely to be detected in long-term data than in a series of snapshot recordings (e.g. 5 minutes every hour)
emka TECHNOLOGIES is committed to providing researchers with noninvasive means of acquiring parameters: including lung volume (emkaBELT option) and blood pressure (via the occlusive tail cuff).
our study management software helps to refine study design by automating many acquisition and analysis processes and reducing the likelihood of human error during an experiment
for ecg recording in rodents: the use of a noninvasive system (ecgTUNNEL restraining/recording setup) translates into a less stressed animal and higher quality data, and higher productivty for the researcher
similarly the addition of a conical restrainer to the double-chamber plethysmograph setup provides a more natural environement for the rodent, which has positive effects on animal mortality, well-being, quality of data and researcher productivity

3R's and emka TECHNOLOGIES

replacement

reduction

refinement

further reading