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System and methods for evaluating efficacy of appetite-affecting drugs

  • US 8,977,517 B2
  • Filed: 06/04/2007
  • Issued: 03/10/2015
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2006
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A system for determining the efficacy of drugs on an animal, comprising:

  • a plurality of cage scale assemblies, each cage scale assembly including a cage, a food source, and a scale, wherein said cage scale assembly is configured to wirelessly send cage scale assembly data to and wirelessly receive the cage scale assembly data from a switchbox;

    said food source available to the animal;

    said scale associated with said food source and in wireless communication with the switchbox;

    said cage scale assembly data consisting of poll date, animal ID, current time, previous scale weight and current scale weight;

    a drug-delivery device in wireless communication with a control unit, the drug-delivery device including a drug source for delivering a predetermined amount of at least one appetite-affecting agent to the animal,a control unit configured to;

    store study setup data consisting of study ID, date, lights-on time, lights-off time, experiment start time and experiment stop time,store animal treatment setup data consisting of animal ID, cage scale ID, treatments ID, agent(s) and dose(s),store pump setup data consisting of pump ID, syringe diameter, infusion rate and infusion periods,store scale setup data consisting of polling interval and threshold weight change,collect the cage scale assembly data from said switchbox at a predetermined interval,determine if the previous scale weight exceeds the current scale weight by an amount greater than the threshold weight change indicating feeding behavior, and if so record the cage scale assembly data, andanalyze the cage scale assembly data to determine feeding patterns of the animal;

    send instructions to the drug delivery device to stop delivering the predetermined amount of the at least one appetite-affecting agent upon determining that the previous scale weight exceeds the current scale weight by an amount greater than the threshold.

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