Table 1.
Comparison of home cage monitoring systems.
| System | Company/Institution | Camera Position | Strengths | Limitations | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Cage Environment | CleverSys Inc | Side | Detailed assessment of animal behaviours in home cage. | Solitary housing. No direct measurement of activity |
Steele et al. (2007) Roughan et al. (2009) |
| GroupHousedScan | CleverSys Inc | Top and Side | Detailed assessment of animal behaviours and social interactions in home cage. | Maximum of two individuals. Not compatible with standard vivarium |
– |
| PhenoRack | ViewPoint Life Sciences | Side | Compatible with High density IVC racks. Quantitatively measures activity and Automatically annotates rearing, drinking and feeding in home cage. |
Solitary housing. | Aniszewska et al. (2014) |
| SCORHE | NIH | Front and Rear | Compatible with standard high density IVC rack. Measures activity in home cage. | Solitary housing. Currently limited to black mice. |
Salem et al. (2015) |
| PhenoTyper | Noldus Information Technology | Top | Can be multiplexed with drug delivery systems and operant systems to run bespoke experiments | Solitary housing in bespoke environment. Top view camera cannot track detailed behaviours. |
de Visser et al. (2006) Spink et al. (2001) |
| ANY-Maze Cage | Global Biotech Inc; Stoelting Co. | Top | Can be used in combination with weight transducers for measuring food and water consumption. Can measure running wheel activity and immobility defined sleep |
Solitary housing. Mice need to be removed to bespoke environment. |
Fisher et al. (2012) Banks et al. (2015) |
| Home Cage Analysis System | Actual Analytics | Side | Mice remain in their home cage within established social groups. Social interactions Compatible with standard high. density IVC racks Videos overlaid with RFID identities for each mouse. |
Takes two IVC rack spaces. RFID microchips inserted into mouse groin under general anaesthesia. |
Bains et al. (2016) |
| LABORAS | Metris, B.V. | N/A | Registers behavioural signatures for fine movements like grooming, eating and drinking. | Solitary housing. No video output. Mice need to be removed into bespoke environment. |
Quinn et al. (2003) Goulding et al. (2008) |
| IntelliCage | NewBehaviour TSE Systems | N/A | Group housing. Possible to design custom cages set ups to run bespoke experiments. |
No video output therefore detailed behaviours not recorded. Animals need to be acclimatised to the bespoke environment. |
Lipp (2005) Endo et al. (2012) |
| PhenoMaster | LabMaster TSE Systems | N/A | Multiplexed with weight transducers and beam break detectors for measuring food and water intake along with activity measurements. Indirect gas calorimetry. Can be multiplexed with other equipment to run memory and learning tasks. |
Solitary housing. Mice need to be removed to bespoke environment |
Clemmensen et al. (2015) |