Method and system for measuring mobility of a tested animal
OwnerChen-Jee Honginventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a method and system for measuring mobility of a tested animal, a lower float portion of a float member floats on a liquid body disposed in a container. An upper detected portion of the float member vertically opposite to the lower float portion is disposed above the liquid body. The tested animal is placed in the liquid body such that movement of the tested animal in the liquid body results in surface waves of the liquid body and that the upper, detected portion moves according to the surface waves reaching the lower float portion. Positions of the upper detected portion are optically detected during a time period. Position information of the tested animal in the liquid body is then determined from the detected positions.
Claims19
A method for measuring mobility of a tested animal, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a liquid body;
- b) providing a float member having a lower float portion that floats on the liquid body, and an upper detected portion that is vertically opposite to the lower float portion and that is disposed above the liquid body;
- c) placing the tested animal in the liquid body such that movement of the tested animal in the liquid body results in surface waves of the liquid body and that the upper detected portion of the float member moves according to the surface waves that reach the lower float portion of the float member;
- d) optically detecting positions of the upper detected portion of the float member during a time period;
- and
- e) determining position information of the tested animal in the liquid body from the positions detected in step d).
A system for measuring mobility of a tested animal, comprising:
- a container;
- a liquid body disposed in said container;
- a float member having a lower float portion that floats on said liquid body, and an upper detected portion that is vertically opposite to said lower float portion and that is disposed above said liquid body, said upper detected portion of said float member moving according to surface waves of said liquid body that result from movement of the tested animal in said liquid body when the tested animal is placed in said liquid body and that reach said lower float portion of said float member;
- a sensor unit for optically detecting positions of said upper detected portion of said float member during a time period;
- and
- a computing unit, coupled to said sensor unit, for determining position information of the tested animal in said liquid body from the positions detected by said sensor unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.