PhenoSys GmbH products

Virtual Reality (VR) systems can be used with mice and rats to investigate brain functions during decision making. The JetBall-TFT is a worldwide unique product with a TFT surround monitor system and a spherical treadmill with optional operant devices. The JetBall, an air cushioned spherical treadmill allows a restrained animal to navigate in a virtual world. Brain function can be examined with electrophysiological, imaging and optogenetic methods while the animal performs behavioural tasks employing navigation, cognition, learning, or memory.

Virtual Reality (VR) can be used for mice to investigate brain functions during decision making. The JetBall-Dome is a worldwide unique product with a Dome for mirror projection of a virtual environment and a spherical treadmill with optional operant devices. The JetBall, an air-cushioned spherical treadmill allows a restrained animal to navigate in a virtual environment. The animal can be examined with electrophysiological, imaging and optogenetic methods while it performs behavioural tasks employing navigation, cognition, learning and memory.

RFID technology is ideally suited to build or upgrade custom test arenas with animal identification or localization functions. Phenosys’ IDspyder is a ready to use package which allows adding position or individual tracking to an existing arena. RFID tagged animals are reliably detected and tracked through time and space by the provided IDsensors. The PhenoSoft Control software logs all detections events for later analysis into an accessible data file.

It is beneficial for animals to live in groups rather than in single housing. Many behavioural diagnostic tests, however, require an individual animal to be alone while tested. Traditionally, this requires manually placing an animal from a home cage to the test arena and back. With the IDsorter connecting the home cage with a test arena, this process is fully automated. Our system can be interfaced to operant systems from other vendors or to video observation systems.

It is beneficial for animals to live in groups rather than in single housing. Many behavioural diagnostic tests, however, require an individual animal to be alone while tested. Traditionally, this requires manually placing an animal from a home cage to the test arena and back. With the IDsorter connecting the home cage with a test arena, this process is fully automated. Our system can be interfaced to operant systems from other vendors or to video observation systems. An integrated weighing scale allows the continuous monitoring of the animals’ health conditions.

Activity and movement are fundamental diagnostic parameters of animal behaviour. However, measuring long-term individual movement within groups was not possible until recently. Our ActivityMonitor provides accurate individual movement data in a fully automated way. This is a unique solution for the 24/7 long-term tracking of individual animals living in groups which requires no operator attention.

Over the last decade, touchscreen methods for rodents have become an efficient and powerful diagnostic tool. They are widely used for cognitive testing and therapeutic screening of rodent models for translational research. It permits behavioural, lesion, and pharmacological studies.

The multi-channel Olfactometer provides fast and accurate odor delivery. It is a sophisticated tool enabling the assessment of activity in olfactory sensory neurons and the olfactory bulb. Our Olfactometer systems allow perfect control of multiple stimuli and of stimulus concentration as well as timing. The preparation of high quality odor mixtures is a complex process. With the automated Olfactometer and its software, this process becomes a standard laboratory routine. The Olfactometer can be used and integrated easily for the behavioural assessment of odor-detection and for odor discrimination behaviour.