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System for simultaneously monitoring heart and breathing rate in mice using a piezoelectric transducer

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Abstract

We propose a novel system for simultaneously monitoring the heart rate (HR) and breathing rate (BR) of anesthetized mice using a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) placed under the body. It is known that a PZT, which transforms mechanical vibrations into electrical signals, can detect heart sounds and breathing movements. However, no PZT system has been reported for simultaneous and continuous monitoring of HR and BR, possibly due to difficulties in eliminating noises and errors caused by the amplitude fluctuation of heart sounds and breathing movements. These difficulties were overcome by custom-designed analogue circuitry and a microprocessor program, resulting in detection of HR and BR with a high reliability compared to the values obtained from ECG and a conventional airflow sensor. We believe that this practical and easy-to-use system can be applied to a wide variety of basic and clinical research fields.

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Acknowledgments

This work has been supported by Scientific Research Grants and Grant-in-Aid for Creative Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan (15GS0301). We are grateful to Drs Nobuhiro Ban and Jeff Kershaw for helpful discussions and Ms Emiko Harada for her technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Akita University School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Hondo, Akita, 010-8543, Japan

    Shinichi Sato, Katsuya Yamada & Nobuya Inagaki

  2. Department of Physiology, and CREST of Japan Science and Technology Cooperation, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, 5 Zaifu-cho, Hirosaki, 036-8562, Japan

    Katsuya Yamada

  3. Department of Diabetes and Clinical Nutrition, and CREST of Japan Science and Technology Cooperation, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Shogoin, Kawaramachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan

    Nobuya Inagaki

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  1. Shinichi Sato
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  2. Katsuya Yamada
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Correspondence to Shinichi Sato.

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Sato, S., Yamada, K. & Inagaki, N. System for simultaneously monitoring heart and breathing rate in mice using a piezoelectric transducer. Med Bio Eng Comput 44, 353–362 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-006-0047-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-006-0047-z

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