General; Principle Of Operation; Instrument Description - UGO BASILE 37360 Instruction Manual

Tail Flick Unit
Cat. 3 7 3 6 0
1

GENERAL

This new style Tail Flick Unit has been designed to perform rapid precise screening of
analgesic drugs on the rat tail, according to D'Amour & Smith, see BIBLIOGRAPHY, par-
agraph 13.1-Method Paper.
The instrument measures the latency of the avoidance response when pain is induced by
radiant heat applied to the animal's tail.
Its main features are:-
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Direct connection to a PC (USB and serial)
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Adjustable I.R. Intensity
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Multifunction graphic display readout
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USB pen-drive provided with the standard package
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No protruding elements: flush mounted infrared window
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Comfortable, unobstructed working surface
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No stray radiation
1.1

Principle of Operation

The rat is held by the operator on the instrument unobstructed upper panel (see 1, figure
1, figure 2, and datasheet picture) in such a way that its tail, placed over a flush mounted
window, receives the I.R. energy.
The operator starts the stimulus and the related reaction-time counter by the pedal switch
or by function key located on the front panel.
When the rat feels pain and flicks its tail, a sensor detects it, stops the reaction-time
counter and switches off the bulb. The reaction time of the animal is thus automatically
determined to the nearest 0.1 second.
2

INSTRUMENT DESCRIPTION

The Tail Flick Unit basically consists of an I.R. source, whose radiant energy of adjusta-
ble intensity is focused by an embodied parabolic mirror on the rat tail.
37360 Instruction Manual (Rev. 0)
Page 1