Mouse-Pi: A Platform for Monitoring In-Situ Experiments

Abstract

In many cases, medical research observes the behavior of animals under various conditions, such as medication or surgery. Research on experimental treatments of Parkinson’s disease often use the hemiparkinsonian rat model and drug induced rotation tests. These tests monitor how often and in which frequency rats spin around their own center under the influence of apomorphine or amphetamine. Normally, the monitoring system consists of a thin wire and an external rotary encoder. This experimental setup imposes significant stress on the subjects, and suffers from very limited resolution in time. The present paper investigates the utility of state-of-the-art embedded systems as a core of a vision based monitoring systems. It turns out that low-cost platforms, such as the Raspberry Pi, work well in this application field. However, the chosen approach behaves sensitive to technical parameters, such as the chosen colors, the ambient light condition, and the subject’s fur.