Pharmacology Lab Instruments

Tail Flick Analgesia Meter measures pain sensitivity in mice and rats as they respond to heat application to a small area of the tails. The instrument has a shutter-controlled lamp as a heat source. The lamp is located below the animal to provide a less confining environment. Lamp starts 5 seconds prior to actual shutter opening so that the heat source provides a constant temperature to the animal's tail, avoiding temperature variations which are most common with non shuttered systems. The animal is generally restrained and its tail is placed on a sensing groove on top of the instrument. Activation of an intense light beam to the tail results in a discomfort leading to tail flick out of the beam at some time point. Instrument can be used in auto mode or manual mode. In the manual mode, the foot-switch is released. In the auto mode the photo detector detects the tail flick, causing the timer to stop. The total time elapsed between shutter opening and animal's tail flick is displayed on an easily read display located on the front panel.