ShEEP Request for Comprehensive Lab Animal Monitoring System (CLAMS) / Oxy CLAMS

Va San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego CA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The Comprehensive Laboratory Animal Monitoring System (CLAMS) is used in many pre-clinical studies. This non-invasive metabolic monitoring system is of particular interest to researchers concerned with metabolic problems, because the relationship between inspired oxygen and expired carbon dioxide sets the biochemical limit of the organism. The requested system is equipped with 16 rodent stations, generally enough to perform two side-by-side group measurements for statistical analyses that also negates temporal variability. The system also has several secondary functions such as; 1) food and water intakes, 2) three coordinates activity, 3) automated food access, 4) sleep detection, 5) running wheels, and 6) temperature and light control. All these features would make this system a necessary part of our goal to produce high quality data in a time and cost efficient manner. The functionality of this system will allow a large and prolific group of VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) cardiovascular investigators (Drs. Hammond, Roth, and Patel) as well as our colleagues in the nephrology department (Drs. Vallon and Rajasekaran) and in neuroscience (Tuszynski, Risbrough, and Head) the opportunity to expand their experimental capabilities dramatically.