CN112022091A — Animal behavioristics test system

Assignee: Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SIAT) · Inventors: Liu Haoran, Wang Feng, Wang Liping (pinyin transliteration of the CN record) Filed: 2019-06-04 (CN201910483279.6A; PCT/CN2019/120889, ceased) · Published: 2020-12-04 · Status: Pending (CN)

Abstract

An animal behaviour testing system comprising a behavioural box configured to house experimental animals (with a gas inlet for delivering anaesthetic gas), a stimulus presentation module aimed at the animal, an optical pulse stimulation module whose light output extends into the box and connects to the animal’s head, and a video monitoring module with both visible-light and infrared components — allowing behaviour to be monitored in lit conditions and in darkness.

Key technical features

• Brain recording: NO — visible-light + infrared video monitoring; optical pulse (optogenetic) stimulation is an intervention, not recording; no EEG/electrodes
• Species: Animal (rodent/mouse) — 129 “animal” and 75 “experimental animal” mentions in the bilingual CN + EN text; background addresses anaesthetised mice; “rodents such as mice” whose dark-environment activity fits their natural behaviour
• Classification: A61B5/16 (psychotechnics); A61B5/40 (nervous-system evaluation); A61B5/48; A61D7/00 and A61D7/04 (animal anaesthesia delivery)
• Structure: airtight box design with anaesthetic gas inlet, recovery and sampling tubes (claim 6: recovery diameter > inlet > sampling); top-wall opening with screen stimulus presentation (claim 3); stimulus module = light, sound and/or odour devices (claim 10); infrared-filter auxiliary box with IR monitoring component (claims 2, 4); optical pulse module = laser generator + waveform generator + fibre suspended via a rod with a universal joint to the animal’s head (claims 7-8); glove port for adjusting animals without opening the box (claim 9)
• Citations: 16 patent citations; cited by 7

Significance

Addresses four shortcomings of existing animal behaviour rigs: poor airtightness around anaesthetic gas (risking experimenter exposure), light-only video (no dark-environment monitoring), manually triggered stimuli (subjective, poor timing precision, experimenter-dependent), and narrow single-function scope. By combining infrared-capable video with optogenetic stimulation, the system supports circuit-level dissection of innate fear and arousal states — the stated goal includes translating conserved neural mechanisms to fear-related disorders such as PTSD and anxiety. Represents the modern mouse systems-neuroscience rig (optogenetics + dual-mode video + anaesthetic-gas safety) within this patent collection.