ToxmateLab
Monitor multi-species behavior in a specific environment
The ToxmateLab is a new product developed by ViewPoint to simultaneously monitor multiple species' behavioral responses in a specific environment and to allow long-term assays. This apparatus has been designed to track and record behavioral outputs of small living organisms, in high throughput. As well as to analyze and measure the toxic properties and the impact of fluids on the behavior of small animals. Three powerful and precise cameras continuously record the activity of the animals in order to observe the tiniest and the most discreet behavior.
High throughput analysis, controlled environment:
ToxmateLab is composed of three independent panels, lighted with infrared, each containing 16 animals, offering up to 48 animals analyzed simultaneously. It can accept different sizing from 5 mm to 5 cm. The ToxmateLab chamber allows you to fully control the experiment conditions such as light intensity, temperature, and noise. A homogeneous circulation of liquids oxygenates the organisms for long-term experimentation through a consistent water flow. Different experimental designs can be set up thanks to the 3 independent panels. All subjects can be under the same condition or rather, different ones to evaluate the locomotor activity with different scenarios: species/contaminants/concentrations.
High-precision, incredible versatility
ToxmateLab can analyze and measure the impact of long-term exposure of subjects to toxic compounds. Several high-definition cameras record and quantify automatically and continuously their behavioral response. ToxmateLab is versatile, offering great flexibility and control before and during the experiment.
A multi-species tool
Every living organism sized from 0.3 cm can be analyzed by ToxMate. Here are a couple of examples:
Aquatic:
- macroinvertebrates: Arthropods (Gammarus), Gastropods (Lymnea), Annelids (Oligochaeta), aquatic larvae's insects (Ephemera, Chironomidae),
- ichthyofauna: fry (Trout, Minnow), small fish (Zebrafish)
Terrestrial:
- Arachnids (Spiders), Annelids (Earthworms), Mollusca (Snails), Insects (Beetles)
Airborne
- Honeybees, Mosquitoes, Drosophila
Application domains
- Ecotoxicology, entomology, ethology, environmental toxicology :
- Impact of substances on long-term behavior
- Toxicity kinetics
- Responses to a contaminant
- Ecology :
- Genetic or environmental characteristic influences on a species
- Influence of host-parasite interactions
- Influence of temperature, conductivity, etc. on behavior
- Impact over several generations
- Drug Screening
These capabilities will help your laboratory achieve outstanding results
- Thermal regulation management - Thanks to our unique design, the ToxmateLab does not heat the temperature inside the individual tanks. Temperature control unit is not required for a short term assays. Our system keeps an optimal environment inside the chamber, without warming up the tanks nor getting humidity or steam. We encourage our researchers to consider the temperature control for a long term experiment and if the room conditions are far from the aquatic macro invertebrates lifestyle conditions. A thermal regulation stimuli option has been developed in order to assess the behavioral response after a temperature change (cooling/heating shock) or simply to maintain a desired temperature. Thermal change sequences can be directly controlled via our ZebraLab software.
- Flexibility for your macroinvertebrates research protocol - Thanks to the user-friendly software and interface, you can easily set up a standard or more complex protocol on your own. All protocoles can be saved to be reused by the users.
- Distortion-free image into each well - With our technology using special tanks which have been made with a special shape avoiding distortion and heating up issues. The subjects are in direct observation. Our robust system has been designed to get the most accurate and sharpest image possible, from tank to tank.
- Total control of the experiment - Controlling the environmental conditions is key to success. The ToxmateLab can controlled precisely key features : external sounds thanks to special alloy and foams, circadian cycle thanks to an infrared and white light module, oxygen thanks to a continuous waterflow and temperature thanks to our precise temperature control unit. Controlling and repeating specific conditions (light/sound/number of tanks tracked) has never been easier.