#Talking3RScience Webinar Series

Biomedical research aims to understand disease causes and mechanisms to develop prevention and treatment strategies. Animal experiments have historically been crucial for this research, but ethical concerns about animal welfare during scientific procedures persist. The 3Rs (Replace, Reduce, Refine) proposed by Russell and Burch (1959) guides efforts to uphold high welfare standards in animal research. However, implanted telemetry systems remain the de facto gold standard in animal studies for monitoring relevant physiological parameters, despite causing severe pain and stress for the animals. On the other hand, the use of camera-based monitoring systems in laboratory animal housing is becoming increasingly widespread in animal experiments. As part of the DFG-funded project FOR2591, we have developed such a smart home cage system, which is intended to utilize the built-in cameras to completely non-invasively capture physiological parameters such as respiratory rate, heart rate, body temperature, and body weight to further improve animal welfare.

This webinar will comprehensively cover the fundamentals, concept, implementation, and handling of the Smart Homecage system. Additionally, it will delve into initial experiences from practical deployment and present early results of camera-based detection of respiratory and heart rates. Finally, it will provide an outlook on the future of Smart Homecage Monitoring, which has the potential to render a significant portion of implanted telemetry systems obsolete in the future.