Applications of Biotelemetry for Medical Use in Animals |
||
Biotelemetry is emerging as a prominent modality for the hands-off monitoring of animals in medical studies. To test the effectiveness of a drug or therapy, often an animal will be used as a model of disease. A particular disease is induced in an animal model, followed by treatment with novel drugs or other therapies; the objective is to identify the best approach to cure the disease. Data obtained from biotelemetric systems allow researchers to more easily refine and develop their product. New, fully-implantable, biotelemetric products are being developed, such as those made by EndoSomatic Systems (more information in the Innovators section), that allow researchers to obtain data on their subjects without directly interacting with them. For example, with the aid of such products, researchers can deliver a bolus injection of drugs to a test subject and then record its heart rate, blood pressure, and blood flow, all without breaking the subject's skin with wires, catheters, or needles. Thus, the data are more useful than data obtained with a hard-wired setup, because the animal is not alarmed by pain or human presence that are known to inflate the animal's heart rate and pressure. (Citation b1)
Lab rat with the EndoSomatic Systems' Endo Gear sensor implanted. It is ready to be used in a study examining remote control of drug delivery. (Citation f1)
Above is a photograph of
EndoSomatic Systems' implantable injector. It will be hooked up to a
main sensor hub that communicates with a receiver so that the injector
can be activated remotely at any time. (Citation f3) |
||
