Efficient Laboratory Animal moNitoring (ELAN) kicks off

Smart home cage for efficient laboratory animal monitoring

Developing a smart cage for laboratory animals to stimulate natural behavior, to prevent stress and frustration, and to enable continuous accurate measurements in their home environment. Those are the objectives of the project “Efficient Laboratory Animal moNitoring” (ELAN) which had its kick-off last month. ELAN is a collaboration of three Dutch companies - Noldus Information Technology, UNO Life Science Solutions and Brain Builders – and the Radboud University Medical Center.

The ELAN consortium aims to develop newly designed home cages equipped with the latest sensor technology and AI to monitor group-housed rats 24/7, rendering valuable scientific data about the animals’ behavior, health and the cage environment. The novel cage should increase the quality and lower the cost of welfare monitoring. By increasing the quantity and quality of research data, while simultaneously improving animal welfare, ELAN will contribute to two important goals of modern biomedical research: refinement and reduction of animal testing.

The ELAN project is financed by the European Fund for Regional Development and the Province of Gelderland, The Netherlands, as well as by the consortium partners.

Contact Noldus Information Technology BV for more information: [email protected]