CAGE RACK MONITORING APPARATUS AND METHODS

• US 20150004679A1
• Filed: 06/27/2014
• Published: 01/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Innovive, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Innovive, Inc.
• Inventors: Conger, Dee L., Spivey, Cory J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,729,098 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 435/287.2
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 1/031 Cages for laboratory animals; Cages for measuring metabolism of animals
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 1/2202 involving separation of sample components during sampling
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2001/2223 aerosol sampling devices

Abstract

Methods, devices, apparatuses and systems for monitoring the presence or absence of a contaminant and/or a contaminant sampling element, or portion thereof, in an animal rack.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring contaminants in a rodent containment cage rack, comprising:

a contaminant sampling element (CSE) in effective connection with a rack component;

wherein the CSE comprises CSE identifying information;

a reader in effective connection with a rack component and configured to detect the CSE identifying information; and

one or more components coupled to the reader, which one or more components are configured to receive the CSE identifying information from the reader and which utilize the CSE identifying information to perform one or more contaminant monitoring operations.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the CSE identifying information comprises an identifier configured for detection by the reader.

3. The system of claim 1, where the rack component is a rack, rack plenum, vertical air exhaust plenum, cage, cage cover, and a blower.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the reader is an optical reader, electrical reader or mechanical reader.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the identifier is chosen from one or more of a bar code, one or more numbers, one or more letters, a serial number, a radio frequency identifier, a discoloring polymer, a reflective identifier, a non-reflective identifier, a magnetic identifier, a symbol, a symbolic code, a chemical detector identifier, an infrared wavelength identifier, an optical wavelength identifier, an image and combinations thereof.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the CSE is removable.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the CSE comprises a sampling element.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the sampling element comprises one or more of a filter, membrane, tape, liquid, gel, a capture agent or a combination thereof.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the CSE comprises a detector.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the detector is chosen from a lab-on-a-chip, a microcantilever, an optical detector, and a chemically reactive substance.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more components are chosen from a controller and one or more microprocessors.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises memory comprising instructions configured to utilize the CSE identifying information to perform the one or more contaminant monitoring operations.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more contaminant monitoring operations are chosen from:

determining the presence or absence of the CSE, providing notification of the presence or absence of the CSE, assigning an identity to the CSE, generating and storing the time and date when the CSE was connected with the rack component, generating a schedule for removal of the CSE from the rack component, providing notification for the time of removal of the CSE, receiving contaminant information associated with the CSE, associating the contaminant information obtained from the CSE with CSE identifying information, generating instructions for an end user according to contaminant monitoring information obtained from the CSE identifying information, displaying the results of performing one or more operations and combinations thereof.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more components provide a visual display as a notification of the effective connection of the CSE with the rack component.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more components provide a notification for removal of the CSE from connection with the rack component.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more components associate the CSE with the contaminant information.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the contaminant information is chosen from the presence, absence and amount of a contaminant.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the contaminant comprises a biological contaminant.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the biological contaminant comprises a rodent pathogen.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the contaminant comprises a chemical contaminant.