RODENT CONTAINMENT CAGE MONITORING APPARATUS AND METHODS

• US 20120085291A1
• Filed: 10/10/2011
• Published: 04/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Innovive, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Innovive, Inc.
• Inventors: Conger, Dee L., Spivey, Cory, Roes, Michael A., McGuffie, Francesca, Jenson, Leroy
• Granted Patent: US 9,516,857 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 119/419
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 1/0047 Air-conditioning, e.g. ventilation, of animal housings
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 1/031 Cages for laboratory animals; Cages for measuring metabolism of animals

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses and systems for convenient management of animals within a rodent containment cage system that includes labeling components, receiving data, associating the data, reporting the data and/or associations and locating components within the cage system. The management of the system may be self-contained, networked through a controller, local server and/or main server.

Claims

1. A rodent containment cage system, comprising:

a first cage component comprising a first detectable identifier and a second cage component comprising a second detectable identifier, the second cage component covering the first detectable identifier; and

a detector, whereby the detector is configured to detect the first detectable identifier and the second detectable identifier.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first cage component, second cage component, or first cage component and second cage component, includes two or more identifiers.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the identifier is selected from the group consisting of bar codes, serial numbers, radio frequency identifiers, discoloring polymers, reflective identifiers, non-reflective identifiers, magnetic identifiers, symbolic codes, chemical sensor identifiers, and combinations thereof.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the identifier serves as a clocking identifier, a cage position identifier, a content identifier, or combination thereof.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the detector is in effective connection with a rack.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the detector is attached to a shelf in the rack and the first and second cage components engage with the shelf.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the rack comprises a shelf that includes a channel into which a portion of the cage can slide and the detector is located on the shelf in proximity to the channel and is configured to detect the first and second detectable identifiers when the cage is slid into the channel and the first and second detectable identifies pass the detector.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the detector is attached to a side of the shelf in the rack and the first and second cage components each include a flange whereby a surface of each flange of the first and second cage component contacts each other when the cage components are engaged and identifiers are located on the flange of each cage component, and the detector is in-line with the flanges and identifiers on the cage components for detection.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the detector employs materials selected from the group consisting of a mechanical sensing component, magnetic sensing component, magnetic optical sensing component, optical sensing component, automatic sensing component, chemical sensing component, fluorescence sensing component and combination thereof.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the cage component is selected from the group consisting of a cage lid component, cage base component, air supply or air exhaust component, water supply component, sensor component, filter component, baffle component, feeder component and bedding component.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein one or more cage components are substantially transparent.

12. The system of claim 5, which further comprises a display wherein:

the display is located on a rack of the system;

or

the display is located in a location remote from the rack.

13. A rodent containment cage, comprising:

a base comprising a first detectable identifier; and

a lid comprising a second detectable identifier, affixed to the base, and covering the first detectable identifier, whereby the second detectable identifier is located in proximity to the first detectable identifier.

14. The rodent containment cage of claim 13, wherein the identifier is selected from the group consisting of bar codes, serial numbers, radio frequency identifiers, discoloring polymers, reflective identifiers, non-reflective identifiers, electromagnetic identifiers, magnetic identifiers, symbolic codes, chemical sensor identifiers, or combinations thereof.

15. A method for detecting identifiers on a rodent containment cage, comprising:

engaging a cage with a shelf of a rack, the cage comprising a base that includes a first detectable identifier and lid that includes a second detectable identifier, and the shelf comprising a detector; and

sliding the cage into the shelf, whereby the first detectable identifier and the second detectable identifier are detected by the detector as they pass the detector when the cage is slid into the shelf.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the lid covers the first detectable identifier and first detectable identifier is detected through lid.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the detector is an optical reader, the first detectable identifier and the second detectable identifier are configured for optical detection, and the lid is substantially transparent.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first detectable identifier and the second detectable identifier are arranged in-line.

19. The containment cage of claim 15, wherein the detectable identifier is selected from the group consisting of bar codes, serial numbers, radio frequency identifiers, discoloring polymers, reflective identifiers, non-reflective identifiers, electromagnetic identifiers, magnetic identifiers, symbolic codes, chemical sensor identifiers, and combinations thereof.

20. A rodent containment cage rack, comprising:

a plurality of cage mount support members each disposed between and connected to a first side member and a second side member,

each support member comprising a wall that contains, or walls that contain, a first support member plenum and a second support member plenum substantially extending the length of the support member,

each support member comprising a first set of cage connection apertures and a second set of cage connection apertures in the wall or walls of a lower surface of a support member, each aperture of the first set of cage connection apertures is in connection with the first support member plenum, and each aperture of the second set of cage connection apertures is in connection with the second support member plenum;

each support member comprising a first set of support member end apertures in connection with the first support member plenum and a second set of support member end apertures in connection with the second support member plenum, each of which end apertures is at the end of each support member that connects to a side member;

each side member comprising a wall that contains, or walls that contain, a first side member plenum and a second side member plenum substantially extending the length of the side member, and

each side member comprising a first set of side member apertures and a second set of side member apertures in the wall or walls of the side member, one or more apertures of the first set of side member apertures are in connection with the first side member plenum and are in effective connection with one or more apertures of the first set of support member end apertures, and one or more apertures of the second set of side member apertures are in connection with the second side member plenum and are in effective connection with one or more apertures of the second set of support member end apertures.

21. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 20, whereby each first support member plenum is in effective connection with each first side member plenum and each second support member plenum is in effective connection with each second side member plenum.

22. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 20, wherein the support member apertures are regularly spaced across the transverse axis of the support member.

23. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 20, comprising a nozzle at each aperture in the support member.

24. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 20, further comprising a plurality of cage mounts on a bottom surface of each support member.

25. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 24, wherein each cage mount comprises a rail configured to slidingly receive a cage member and a protrusion configured to stop slideable movement of the cage member.

26. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 25, wherein the cage mount comprises a detector configured to detect a detectable identifier on a cage component slidingly engaged with the cage mount.

27. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 20, comprising a first air connection plate comprising an aperture in effective connection with an aperture on the upper end of a first side member plenum of a side member and comprising a second air connection plate comprising an aperture in effective connection with an aperture on the upper end of a second side member plenum on the opposite side member.

28. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 20, wherein each support member and each side member comprises a channel configured to receive a communication medium.

29. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 28, which channel comprises a communication medium.

30. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 20, wherein the rack is configured to, when positive air pressure is supplied to the first side member plenum of a side member, direct air from the first side member plenum of a side member to the first set of side member apertures of a side member to a set of support member end apertures to the first support member plenums and through the first set of cage connection apertures.

31. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 20, wherein the rack is configured to, when negative air pressure is supplied to the second side member plenum of a side member, direct air through the second set of cage connection apertures to the second support member plenums to a second set of support member end apertures to the second set of side member apertures of a side member and to the second side member plenum of a side member.

32. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 20, wherein each of the first set of cage connection apertures and each of the second set of cage connection apertures is in effective connection with a cage protrusion connector assembly.

33. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 32, wherein the cage protrusion connector assembly comprises a protrusion connector comprising a body, and an orifice in the body.

34. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 33, wherein the cage protrusion connector assembly comprises one or more fasteners on a first side of the body.

35. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 33, which cage protrusion connector assembly comprises a protrusion connector gasket in sealing connection with the body of the protrusion connector.

36. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 35, which cage protrusion connector assembly comprises a nozzle in sealing connection with the protrusion connector gasket.

37. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 36, wherein the nozzle comprises two or more nozzle orifices.

38. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 36, which nozzle comprises a bushing disposed within a nozzle orifice.

39. A modular blower system comprising independent modules, which modules comprise:

an air intake or air exhaust unit; and

a fan unit; and

a filter unit; and

which modules are stacked in series.

40. The modular blower of claim 39, wherein the modules are vertically stacked.

41. The modular blower of claim 39, wherein the modules are horizontally stacked.

42. The modular blower of claim 39, that comprises an air intake unit.

43. The modular blower of claim 42, wherein the air intake unit comprises a pre-filter and a baffle.

44. The modular blower of claim 39, wherein the edges of the stacked units are contiguous.

45. The modular blower of claim 39, wherein the sidewalls of the units are contiguous.

46. The modular blower of claim 39, comprising an air exhaust unit.

47. The modular blower of claim 46, wherein the air exhaust unit comprises an air outlet structure attached to a sidewall.

48. The modular blower of claim 47, wherein the outlet structure is perpendicular to a sidewall of the air exhaust unit.