JPH0546442Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of industrial application] The present invention relates to a small animal restraint device for laboratory use. More specifically, the present invention relates to a retainer for holding a small experimental animal, such as a rat, in a fixed position when a drug is injected into the tail vein of the animal for an experiment.

[Conventional technology]

Intravenous injection of drugs is one of the administration routes frequently used in clinical practice, and when conducting safety tests on such drugs using small experimental animals such as mice and rats, it is common to administer them into the tail vein. It is. However, the tail veins of experimental animals, especially small animals such as rats, are extremely thin with a diameter of less than 1 mm, and in addition, these animals move violently in an attempt to escape the pain during administration or injection, so it is necessary to hold the animal in place during administration. There are several types of retainers available on the market. In safety tests, 100 to 200 animals may be administered continuously for up to a year, so a simple and reliable retainer is desired, but current retainers do not necessarily meet this requirement. I can't say that.

These conventional retainers can be roughly divided into two types. One method is to place the animal on a platform and completely restrain its limbs with strings or the like. The other method is to prepare a narrow box-like body or a container made of wire mesh so that the small experimental animal cannot move, and to push the small experimental animal into this, with only the tail coming out through the opening. It is.

[Issues with conventional technology]

Among the above-mentioned conventional retainers, the former has the disadvantage that it takes too much time to retain when administering drugs to a large number of animals. On the other hand, the latter method is frequently used in safety tests because it can be stabilized in a relatively short time. However, even with this retainer, if the animal cannot be pushed in until it is almost completely immobilized, the tail may move as the animal kicks the rear wall with its hind legs, causing the injection needle to dislodge from the blood vessel once inserted, resulting in failure of administration. Ending is something that is often experienced. In addition, in long-term administration studies, retainers of different sizes must be prepared as the animal grows. Furthermore, it is inevitable that animals will be stressed due to being forced into a narrow box to prevent them from moving, and it has been reported that the stress of retention during intravenous injections affects weight gain, which is an important indicator of toxic effects. This is also a problem because of the fact that The disadvantages of these restrainers are thought to arise from the attempt to restrain the animal's entire body to prevent the tail from moving.

[Means to solve the problem]

The inventors of the present invention have conducted various studies in order to solve the problems of conventional retainers as described above.
The inventors discovered that the object could be achieved by reliably holding the tail of the animal while allowing the animal to move freely to a certain extent, leading to the completion of the present invention.

That is, the gist of the present invention is a retainer for fixing and holding the tail of a small experimental animal, including a retainer body consisting of a bottom plate having a smooth surface and a rear rising part, and a retainer body comprising a rear rising part of the retainer body. The present invention relates to a small experimental animal retainer comprising a tail clamping device whose inner part is made of a plurality of pressing members made of an elastic material and which can be opened and closed.

An example of the retainer of the present invention will be described in more detail below using the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the following description unless it exceeds the gist thereof.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an example of the retainer of the present invention, Fig. 2 A and B are front views showing the operation status of the tail clamping part shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is the same as shown in Fig. 1. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state in which a small experimental animal is retained in the retainer, and is a drawing similar to FIG. 3 showing another example of the retainer of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a retainer, 2 is a bottom plate, 3 is a rear rising part, 4 is a tail clamping device, 5, 5' are pressing members, 6,
6' is an elastic material, 7 is a stopper, 8 is a tail support part, 9 is a guide rod, and 10 is a tail part.

The retainer 1 of the present invention consists of a retainer body having a smooth bottom plate 2 and a raised portion 3 at the rear thereof, and a tail clamping device for fixing and holding the tail of a small experimental animal.

The surface of the bottom plate 2 of the retainer body is made to be a smooth and slippery surface so that no force is applied even if the small experimental animal becomes violent. The material may be any metal such as stainless steel, hard synthetic resin, glass, etc.

A rising portion 3 is provided at the rear of the bottom plate 2. The rising portion 3 may have a wall shape as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, or a column shape as shown in FIG. 4. In any case, the height is such that when the tail of the small experimental animal is fixed, the hind limbs of the small experimental animal float in the air, that is, the height is from several centimeters to more than ten centimeters. The height may be adjustable by appropriate means.

This rear rising portion 3 is provided with a tail clamping tool 4.

The tail clamping device 4 is composed of a plurality of pressing members 5, 5', and can be opened and closed, for example, as shown in FIG. Also, the structure is such that it can be opened by removing a stopper or the like.

In addition, the tail clamping tool 4 is used to hold the tail 10 of a small experimental animal.
The inner parts of the pressing members 5, 5' are made of elastic materials 6, 6' to prevent the tail part 10 from being damaged or coming off even if the small animal becomes violent. As the elastic materials 6, 6', any material that is flexible and has a large coefficient of friction, such as rubber, soft polyurethane, foamed synthetic resin, and soft synthetic resin, can be used.

Although the tail clamping tool 4 has such a structure, it is not limited to a rod-shaped body whose upper part can be opened and closed as shown in the figure, but it can also be constructed by being closed by the repulsive force of a spring or the like. Various structures are possible.

Since the retainer 1 of the present invention has the above-described configuration, retention is completed by holding the tail of a small experimental animal and fixing it to the tail clamping device 4. Since the small animal's body is not fixed, it gives the impression that the restraint is insufficient, but since the surface of the bottom plate 2 is smooth, even if the small animal goes wild, the forelimbs will slip and there will be no force exerted, and the hind legs will remain in the air. Since it is in a floating state, it cannot generate enough force to pull its tail out of the clamp.

If the rear standing portion 3 is likely to be kicked with the hind legs, it may be possible to provide a tail support 8 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The illustrated tail support 8 is made of a rod-shaped body whose portion that contacts the tail is rounded, and is fitted into a guide rod 9 so as to be movable back and forth.

Therefore, when holding a small animal, the position of this tail support 8 is adjusted to raise the position of the base of the tail.
The position can be such that the hind legs of the small animal do not reach the rising portion 3.

This tail support 8 is also not limited to what is shown in the drawings, and may have any structure.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, if the tail clamping device 4 is attached to the front of the rear rising portion 3 so that the hind legs of the small animal do not reach the rear rising portion 3, the tail support may not be provided.

[Effect]

The administerer holds the animal's tail with one hand and pulls the animal backward along the guide rod 9 while exposing the tail to the upper surface to place the animal inside the retainer. When the ridge of the animal reaches the tail support 8, the tail is fixed with the tail clamp 4.

There are four blood vessels in the tail of small experimental animals such as mice and rats: top, bottom, left and right, with arteries running up and down, and veins running left and right. Therefore, more preferably, when performing intravenous injection, the tail is usually twisted at about 90 degrees and held so that the vein to be injected is on the upper side. Since the pressure surface of the tail is made of an elastic material, it does not cause pain to the animal and does not obstruct blood flow.

Figure 3 shows how a small experimental animal is restrained. As shown in Figure 3, the hind legs are slightly raised and do not reach the rear wall, so even if the animal becomes violent, the tail hardly moves, making administration very easy. During this time, even if the animal moves its limbs, the surface of the bottom plate 2 is made of a slippery material, so the feet will slide and the animal will not be able to move forward at all. Also,
Most of the time, you only need one hand to restrain the animal.
The frustration of placing an animal in a conventional retainer is completely eliminated.

In addition, some long safety tests involve continuous administration for one year, during which animals receive doses ranging from around 100g to 800g.
Grows to around g. With conventional retainers, it was necessary to prepare several types of retainers of different sizes depending on the size of the animal, and it was necessary to insert a baffle board into the retainer, but with this retainer, the animal's A tail support is provided according to the size of the hind limb so that it does not reach the rear wall, and by changing its position, it is possible to use one device for the entire test period. Furthermore, restraint is only required at the ridge, allowing animals to move freely, minimizing stress.

As mentioned above, the most different feature of this retainer from conventional retainers is that the hind legs are floating to ensure that the tail is retained, and that the animal is allowed to move freely. This has greatly improved the shortcomings of conventional retainers. Therefore, this retainer is considered to be a simple and good retainer that has little effect on animals due to its operability, reliability, and wide range of use.

[Effect of idea]

(1) Even if the animal moves its limbs, the tail itself does not move, making administration easier, and there is no chance that the injection needle will come off the tail during operation and cause failures in operation.

(2) Since the animal itself is not restrained, the stress during restraint is very low.

(3) If a tail support is provided, it can be used regardless of the size of the animal by adjusting its position.

(4) Restraining operations can be easily performed with one hand in a short period of time, improving work efficiency and reducing stress on animals.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an example of the retainer of the present invention;
Figures A and B are a front view showing the operation status of the tail clamping part shown in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a partially cutaway side view showing the state in which a small experimental animal is held in the retainer shown in Figure 1. FIG. 4 is a drawing similar to FIG. 3 showing another example of the retainer of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a retainer, 2 is a bottom plate, 3 is a rear rising part, 4 is a tail clamping device, 5, 5' are pressing members, 6,
6' is an elastic material, 7 is a stopper, 8 is a tail support, 9 is a guide rod, and 10 is a tail.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) A retainer for fixing and holding the tail of a small experimental animal, including a retainer body consisting of a bottom plate with a smooth surface and a rear rising part, and the rear part of the retainer body. A small experimental animal restrainer comprising a tail clamping device which is provided on a rising portion and which is made up of a plurality of pressing members whose inner parts are made of an elastic material and which can be opened and closed. (2) The small experimental animal restraint device as set forth in claim 1 of the utility model registration claim, characterized in that a tail support device for supporting the tail of a small experimental animal from below is provided in front of the tail clamping device. (3) The experimental small animal restraint device as set forth in claim 2 of the utility model registration claim, characterized in that the tail support is movable in the front-back direction.