choose the good accelerometer

Hi Mathias, I should ask Del what he would do with a mouse in a beaker of water...

To be honest it doesn't sound a very humane experiment you are conducting?

John.

I've never instrumented a mouse in a water beaker, but have done quite a bit with humans (they're sort of like big mice, but you don't have to feed them).

First, the things I say are specific to the US legal/regulatory system. You may not be subject to these restrictions.

Generally, an experiment protocol would need to be written and approved (In my case, by a University Institutuional Review board). There would have to be some reference(s) to previous studies, or papers, or standards. You cannot simply say "Wonder what would happen if I removed 4 liters of blood from a test pilot?" Those papers or studies would provide some guidance as to what you might be looking for; this is important since nobody will approve/fund a study unless it: (1) is safe/humane/justifiable; (2) has specific, well-defined goals; (3) has a reasonable chance of achieving those goals.

In your case, mouse physiology is fairly well-known. Have you looked at the literature?

Once you know what you're looking for, then pick instruments (accelerometers) able to measure that. If you are unable to get information about the accelerometer's sensitivity(?) from the manufacturer, don't use it. Nobody will take the results of the work seriously if you use "something I found in the lab". Call a manufacturer's rep in and have him tell you what you need.

And, finally, I gotta say: Do you have a chapter of PETA in your area? Will they find you? The guys I knew who did work with squirrel monkeys (who had to watch moving targets in return for treats) had to make sure the monkeys had adequate social interaction, limited hours, etc. And, some animal rights groups still were critical. When they see that mouse in that beaker, I smell trouble.

As I tried to explain (but my english is probably not so good as I think) I'm not going to make myself test on mice!!!

What I try to do for my company is to automate a test that is done by researcher who have all the authorisation (they work for CNRS, the french national center for research). The test name is "Forced swimmming test"(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_swimming_test) and it is used for some medical experimentation. Im not going to create my own experimentation.

I know that I need the sensitivity of my sensor to be serious that's why I'm asking for a protocol to test it!

About PETA I take a look on their website but it's not a very well implant association in france (instead of PETA we have SPA) but as Im not making any test myself on animal I think I'm not concerned!

mathias

Well, I won't tell PETA about this if you promise not to complain about New York Champagne.

Anyway, I suppose you don't have the sensitivity of your accelerometer. Contact Bruel and Kjaer and they can probably sell you a little do-hickey that will deliver a calibrated force and you then read the mV. Or, you could just go to a calibration lab and ask them to do it (much cheaper).

But, I still have trouble with the idea of not having pedigree papers on this accelerometer. Where did you get it? I'm serious when I say I never used an accelerometer in my life that didn't have calibration papers.