About this Research Topic
As digital and AI technologies have become more portable, affordable and handy, they have begun to capture the minds of biomedical researchers, including drug developers. From new imaging tools to Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices, researchers are exploring how to use these novel technologies to monitor subjects or patients remotely to increase the diversity and quality of clinical trials and fill gaps in patient care, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Digital tools and caging technology have emerged as new tools in animal research, enabling biomedical researchers to conduct a variety of assays for physiological and phenotypic analysis, in vivo drug screening, and safety and risk assessment through continuous, objecitve, and accurate monitoring of animals within their home cage environment. With continued advancements in technologies, such as AI in software (i.e., ChatGPT) and hardware (i.e., Nvidia’s AI GPU and computer), automated image processing, and remote sensors, digital caging systems are becoming more and more practical and impactful.
Automated, non-invasive technologies allow animals to be monitored and tested in their home cages thereby reducing confounding factors such as stress. These systems are capable of automatically and real-time measure of a wide variety of parameters, including behavioral such as sleep cycle, locomotion (travel distance, travel time on floor or running wheel), rearing up counts, animal movement patterns, and physiological such as breathing rate and ultrasonic vocalization. In addition, these systems can monitor morbidity and mortality, sometimes seen when dosed with a high dose of test articles in toxicity and risk assessment studies. They can also provide user-friendly alerts to researchers, veterinarians, or sponsors worldwide or monitor remotely when some toxicological parameters are found abnormal (compared or trained with AI technologies with historical data). These features are beneficial for timely tissue collection or euthanasia in toxicity and risk assessment studies.
While these technologies provide multiple benefits such as accurate and convenient animal physiological and behavior data, they also come with several challenges before these technologies are routinely implemented in toxicology and risk assessment. Overcoming the challenges of onboarding and establishing robust qualification packages built around specific contexts of use (COU), data integration and real-time analysis, operational and training.
The main goal of this Research Topic is to provide a new forum for toxicologists,
pharmacologists, and veterinarians. Novel findings or issues as well as solutions in digital caging/monitoring technologies in toxicology, risk assessment, and safety pharmacology studies can be communicated among readers.
This Research Topic covers new developments, current and potential future applications of this technology, and its impact on toxicological testing. The topic will consider high-quality manuscripts in digital caging technologies and new endpoints, or digital biomarkers, which facilitate and increase animal welfare maintenance, increase study data quality, and reduced or eliminate potential hazards to animals’ health. The manuscripts may include research papers, case reports or reviews.
The main areas to be included in this Research Topic, but not exclusively limited, are:
- Effects of digital caging and monitoring on animals’ health and toxicological
endpoints.
- How to take advantage of the intelligen monitoring capability for remote monitoring
of adverse behavior and physiological effects caused by test articles.
- New approaches in analyzing or collecting automated animal data (i.e., vocalization,
motion tracking, breathing, radio frequency identification chips) for monitoring,
notification, and analysis of toxic effects.
- Data storage, flow, management and security.
- Development of applications for animal monitoring, veterinarian and study stuff
notification, and novel humane experimental endpoints.
- Big data potential to promote 3Rs principle and animal welfare in in vivo research.
Digital tools and caging technology have emerged as new tools in animal research, enabling biomedical researchers to conduct a variety of assays for physiological and phenotypic analysis, in vivo drug screening, and safety and risk assessment through continuous, objecitve, and accurate monitoring of animals within their home cage environment. With continued advancements in technologies, such as AI in software (i.e., ChatGPT) and hardware (i.e., Nvidia’s AI GPU and computer), automated image processing, and remote sensors, digital caging systems are becoming more and more practical and impactful.
Automated, non-invasive technologies allow animals to be monitored and tested in their home cages thereby reducing confounding factors such as stress. These systems are capable of automatically and real-time measure of a wide variety of parameters, including behavioral such as sleep cycle, locomotion (travel distance, travel time on floor or running wheel), rearing up counts, animal movement patterns, and physiological such as breathing rate and ultrasonic vocalization. In addition, these systems can monitor morbidity and mortality, sometimes seen when dosed with a high dose of test articles in toxicity and risk assessment studies. They can also provide user-friendly alerts to researchers, veterinarians, or sponsors worldwide or monitor remotely when some toxicological parameters are found abnormal (compared or trained with AI technologies with historical data). These features are beneficial for timely tissue collection or euthanasia in toxicity and risk assessment studies.
While these technologies provide multiple benefits such as accurate and convenient animal physiological and behavior data, they also come with several challenges before these technologies are routinely implemented in toxicology and risk assessment. Overcoming the challenges of onboarding and establishing robust qualification packages built around specific contexts of use (COU), data integration and real-time analysis, operational and training.
The main goal of this Research Topic is to provide a new forum for toxicologists,
pharmacologists, and veterinarians. Novel findings or issues as well as solutions in digital caging/monitoring technologies in toxicology, risk assessment, and safety pharmacology studies can be communicated among readers.
This Research Topic covers new developments, current and potential future applications of this technology, and its impact on toxicological testing. The topic will consider high-quality manuscripts in digital caging technologies and new endpoints, or digital biomarkers, which facilitate and increase animal welfare maintenance, increase study data quality, and reduced or eliminate potential hazards to animals’ health. The manuscripts may include research papers, case reports or reviews.
The main areas to be included in this Research Topic, but not exclusively limited, are:
- Effects of digital caging and monitoring on animals’ health and toxicological
endpoints.
- How to take advantage of the intelligen monitoring capability for remote monitoring
of adverse behavior and physiological effects caused by test articles.
- New approaches in analyzing or collecting automated animal data (i.e., vocalization,
motion tracking, breathing, radio frequency identification chips) for monitoring,
notification, and analysis of toxic effects.
- Data storage, flow, management and security.
- Development of applications for animal monitoring, veterinarian and study stuff
notification, and novel humane experimental endpoints.
- Big data potential to promote 3Rs principle and animal welfare in in vivo research.
Keywords: smart cage, digital cage, virtual monitoring diagnosis, remote monitoring, animal welfare, humane endpoints, toxicological endpoints, big data
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
