CN219421883U — Behavioural testing device matched to non-human primate experimental animal rearing cages

Assignee: Hainan University · Inventors: Yue Feng, Yang Yong (pinyin transliteration of the CN record) Filed: 2022-12-23 (CN202223458936.8U) · Granted: 2023-07-28 · Status: Expired — fee related · Anticipated expiration: 2032-12-23

Abstract

A utility model for behavioural testing of non-human primates without transferring them from their home cage: a device body (front/left/right side plates) is docked against the animal’s rearing cage; the front plate’s animal activity window is the interaction opening; a test support plate between the side plates carries either cognitive-memory tasks (flat plate, e.g. DMTS/DMTP) or fine-motor tasks (hole-perforated plate mounting a fine-motion shelving rack); interchangeable sliding-door panels (grid door, double-hole, left/right single-hole) admit zero, one or both hands for different task types; an opaque pull plate occludes the animal between trials; the upper front protrudes as a rearing-cage docking chamber. Tested around the animal’s most familiar cage to reduce panic/unstable emotion and improve cooperation and test objectivity.

Key technical features

• Brain recording: NO — purely mechanical test device (side plates, animal window, sliding-door task panels, test support plate/hole plate, fine-motion shelving rack, opaque pull plate, transition cage). Two video recorders are described in the embodiment (one for side panorama, one for close-up of test reactions) for documentation; no EEG, electrodes or neural recording (zero occurrences in the record).
• Species: Animal (non-human primate) — 109 “animal”; 43 “primate”; 10 “monkey”; worked example uses 8 naive cynomolgus macaques; zero rodent.
• Classification: no CPC codes rendered on the /en record (Google landscape: “Investigating Or Analysing Biological Materials”).
• Structure (claims 1-9): device body = front side plate + left/right side plates (claim 1); sliding door in a door slot at the rear of the front plate (claim 2); sliding-door set = grid sliding door + double-hole panel + right single-hole panel + left single-hole panel (claim 3); test support plate detachably secured between the side plates (claim 4); transition cage detachably fixed in front of the front plate (claim 5); opaque pull plate movable at the rear of the front plate (claim 6); upper front protrudes as a rearing-cage docking chamber, with the activity window on its front plate (claim 7); fine-motion shelving rack (bottom plate, two support columns, rotatable left/right fixing plates — claim 8); rear side plate split into detachably connected upper/lower sections (claim 9). Support-plate variants: flat plate for DMTS/DMTP cognitive-memory tests; hole plate for mounting/adjusting fine-motor fixtures. High-rise frame variant (Figs. 11-12) uses a DC electric push rod.
• Worked example: 8 naive cynomolgus macaques, DMTP (delayed matching-to-position) testing per standard procedure — animals 1-4 traditional method first then device, 5-8 device first then traditional (counterbalanced); on-site indicator evaluation against standard test sheets.
• Test repertoire (stated): upper-limb fine motor, cognitive memory, anxiety/depression behaviour, facial expression, addictive-drug testing.
• Citations: cited by 2.

Significance

Third transfer-free NHP home-cage design in this patent collection (after SIAT CN114532247A and IBP CN118592356A): where SIAT suspends a touchscreen system on the living cage and IBP decouples the control station from the animal room, Hainan University docks a passive mechanical test device directly against the rearing cage — no electronics, no reward system; the animal reaches through the window to task panels and a fine-motor rack. The stated rationale is behavioural rather than technical: avoiding transfer prevents “panic and unstable emotions”, making test responses more cooperative and objective, and the macaque example tests the device against conventional methods on the same animals. Another new institution in the collection (Hainan University), alongside AMMS in the same addition.