Non-invasive ECG & respiration for rodents
ecgTUNNEL is a plug-and-play system for snapshot ECG* recordings and respiration data in rodents that eliminates the need for surgery and anesthesia.
It combines up to 6-lead ECG with an optional plethysmograph dome for respiratory endpoints with optional exposure and infusion options.
This set up is particularly useful for snapshot recordings during sessions lasting a few minutes. It is often used for longitudinal studies where the subjects are studied on successive experiment days, or when subjects are particularly fragile and cannot tolerate surgery or anesthesia.
In an interview, Kimberly Londer BS, from the University of Maryland, said, “there are few systems, publications, or data that exists on small animal ECG without the use of anesthesia or telemetry.” Using ecgAUTO, she “scan[s] an entire recording for AF, ventricular disorders and other arrhythmias of interest within seconds.”
*Electrocardiogram
Benefits
1
Clean, reproducible data
2
Modular & easy to use
3
Quick analysis
Description
Clean, reproducible data
The system consists of a base with 4 electrode pads and a restraining tunnel.
Restrained subjects quickly acclimate to their environment and often fall asleep, reducing the stress artifact in the ECG. These snapshot recordings (up to a couple hours) are easy to acquire and reproduce.
Modular
Single unit can accommodate multiple sized mouse (15g to 60 g) or rat (up to 800 g) studies.
Combine up to 6-lead ECG with an optional plethysmograph dome for respiratory endpoints with optional exposure and infusion options.
Easy to use
ecgTUNNEL allows you to avoid complications or adverse side effects encountered with the use of anesthesia, implantation, or at-risk/fragile models, favoring experiments that comply with the 3R’s and IACUC* protocols.
High throughput screening for phenotyping, model development, disease progression, drug effects, etc. allows for efficient and cost–effective assessment of large cohorts.
A single PC can connect 1 to 8 ecgTUNNELs with a simple plug-and-play USB connection.
*Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
Quick analysis
Acquire and analyze large data files in minutes for heart rate, interval computation and respiratory parameters (rates, durations, breathing depth, degree of bronchoconstriction) or more advanced uses such as arrhythmia detection and heart rate variability (HRV).
The 6-leads ECG analysis is performed very smoothly through a dedicated analysis module:
- Automatic detection of RR intervals from selected zone of ECG, amplitudes, QT correction etc.
- Automatic computation of average ECG shape, from defined time period or beat numbers.
- Possible manual edition on average beat
- Individual report combining parameters and shapes evolution at different time points
Kimberly Londer BS Interview
In an interview, Kimberly Londer BS, from the University of Maryland, explains how she took advantage of ecgTUNNEL to phenotype animals for various heart conditions and develop treatment options for a double transgenic mouse model with atrial fibrillation.
Applications
Phenotyping, Drug development, Aging, Model development, Cardiac monitoring for animal well-being, pain, stress or behavior and more!
Related publications
Electrocardiographic changes are strongly correlated with the extent of cardiac inflammation in mice with Coxsackievirus B3-induced viral myocarditis
Linghe Wu et al. Cardiovascular Pathology. 2021
Effect of genetic background on the cardiac phenotype in a mouse model of Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy
Nicolas Vignier et al, Biochemistry and Biophysics Reports Volume 19, 2019
Erythrocyte-derived microvesicles induce arterial spasms in JAK2V617F myeloproliferative neoplasm
Johanne Poisson et al, J Clin Invest. 2020
Age-dependent changes in electrophysiology and calcium handling implications for pediatric cardiac research
Luther M. Swift et al, 2019
Combined Treatment with Peptide-Conjugated Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligomer-PPMO and AAV-U7 Rescues the Severe DMD Phenotype in Mice
Anne Forand et al, Molecular Therapy, 2020
Targeting of NAT10 enhances healthspan in a mouse model of human accelerated aging syndrome
Gabriel Balmus et al, Nature Communications, 2018
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