Plantar Test for Thermal Stimulation - Hargreaves Apparatus
In the late 80s, Dr. Hargreaves invented a method to assess thermal pain sensation in unrestrained rodents by stimulating a single hind paw and thus allowing for unilateral/contralateral experiments. Ugo Basile created a science-grade instrument to perform this stimulation and automatically measure the response, which became the gold standard with over 2,000 publications by 2022. A thermal stimulus, generated by a focused light source is applied through a glass panel to the plantar surface of the animal's hind paw and the response to this stimulus consists of a withdrawal of the stimulated paw. Ideal for measurement of hyperalgesia. One model for Rat or Mouse and high throughput with up to 12 rats or 6 mice covered.
| Features | Benefits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infrared, a powerful light source | Invisible to the animal, undisturbed and high intensity stimulation for experiments of short duration (stimulation should not last longer than 10-20 seconds, ideally only a few seconds) | ||||||
| Embedded light detection | Automatic foot withdrawal judgment without experimental bias and high accuracy | ||||||
| Optional manual scoring | Users can decide to score leg retraction manually in cases where odd leg positions and automatic detection are not possible. | ||||||
| Touch screen control unit | Seamless configuration of experimental parameters and easy review of data from the control unit | ||||||
| Export USB stick data | No need to connect a PC and one-click data export for review in Excel | ||||||
| Modular animal cages | The dimensions of the area available for the animals can be changed to make it smaller, but the animals remain unconfined and the amount of habituation can be reduced. High throughput of up to 12 mice and 6 rats |