Abstract
Laboratory animal research was always crucial for scientific breakthroughs in the fields of medicine and biology. Animal trials offer insights into various disease mechanisms, genetics, drug therapy and the effect of different external factors onto living organisms. However, conducting animal trials is highly controversial. To ensure high ethical standards, a number of directives have been adopted in the European Union, which seek to replace, reduce and refine animal trials. Hence, severity assessment plays an important role in today's laboratory animal research. Currently, severity of trials is assessed by highly rater dependent scoring systems. In this paper, we propose a method for unobtrusive, automated and contactless measurement of respiratory rate (RR) and heart rate (HR). We were able to extract RR and HR with an high agreement between our method and a contact-based reference method. The Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) averaged 0.32 ± 0.11 breaths/min for RR and 1.28 ± 0.62 beats/min for HR in rats, respectively. In mice, the RMSE averaged 1.42 ± 0.97 breaths/min for RR and 1.36 ± 0.87 beats/min, respectively. In the future, these parameters can be used for new, objective scoring systems, which are not susceptible to inter-rater variability.
Highlights
Most advances in modern medicine were made possible through animal trials [1,2]
We propose a method for unobtrusive, automated and contactless measurement of respiratory rate (RR) and heart rate (HR)
Assessing important vital parameters such as RR and HR is important for laboratory animal science, since it delivers valuable information about the animal undergoing anesthesia
Summary
Most advances in modern medicine were made possible through animal trials [1,2]. With growing public consciousness, animal welfare became a more and more important factor in laboratory animal science [3,4]. In 1959 Russel and Burch promoted the so called 3R-Principles [5], in which the three ”R” stand for: replacement, reduction and refinement. They strive to replace animal trials as far as possible, reduce the quantity of animals used in scientific research and refine the trials, seeking for the most efficient and least severe procedures [6,7]. Today’s guidelines set a great value on severity assessments It is an instrumental part of current animal experiments, there is still a lack of an objective tool, capable of accurately expressing the degree of severity [8,9]. A truly continuous, unobtrusive and rater independent severity assessment requires other parameters
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
