Subcutaneous thermal sensor microchip validation in vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) during normothermic and hypothermic situations.

Abstract

Internal temperature data are essential for clinical evaluation in veterinary medicine. During the last decade, new thermometry devices have been developed. Identification microchips with a temperature sensor offer double utility to clinicians by satisfying animal identification regulations and providing a non-invasive method for temperature measurement. During this study, 26 healthy vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) were implanted with a subcutaneous temperature transponding microchip. For each monkey, internal temperature measurements from the microchip and from an anaesthetic monitor (rectal sensor) were recorded every 5minutes during an anaesthetic procedure. In this study, there were 83 paired samples obtained under normothermic conditions and another 72 paired samples obtained under hypothermic conditions, with interclass correlation coefficients of 0.79 and 0.69, respectively, between the two temperature measurement approaches. Measurements obtained using the examined microchip thermal sensor exhibited good and excellent correlation with rectal temperature measurements under hypothermic and normothermic conditions, respectively.