Continuous heart rate variability monitoring of freely moving chicken through a wearable electrocardiography recording system.

Identification and quantification of stress and stress inducing factors are important components of animal welfare assessment and essential parts of poultry management. Measurement of the autonomic nervous system's influence on cardiac function using heart rate and heart rate variability (HR/HRV) indices can provide a non-invasive assessment of the welfare status of an animal. This paper presents a preliminary study showing the feasibility of continuous long-term measurement of HR/HRV indices in freely moving chicken. We developed and evaluated an electrocardiography (ECG) based HR/HRV recording system that can be used as a poultry wearable backpack for research studies. The backpack system was first validated against a commercial ECG amplifier, and the corresponding estimations of HR values matched well with each other. Then, an in vivo proof-of-concept experiment was conducted on floor-reared chickens to collect ECG data for 2 weeks. The extracted HR/HRV values show strong alignment with circadian patterns and well-defined sleep cycles. Wearable devices, like the backpack ECG system used in this study, may be best suited for application in freely moving poultry to get an insight into circadian abnormalities and sleep quality for stress and welfare management.

Wearable Devices in Veterinary Health Care.

Wearables are an up-and-coming tool in veterinary health care. This article reviews the current and prospective wearable technology for veterinary patients and the future of wearables in veterinary medicine. These devices allow veterinarians to monitor a patient's vital signs remotely, in addition to other variables, and push the profession away from a reactive health-care system toward a proactive culture that is able to identify diseases earlier. Advances in this technology have the potential to profoundly change the way veterinarians obtain and use patient data to practice medicine.

Screening microchip sites to predict body temperature in young calves.

Thermal microchip sensors can automate body temperature measurements. The best site of implantation is still unknown, and the accuracy and precision of body temperature predictions based on microchip data need to be investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the best site for microchip implant for monitoring body temperature in dairy calves. Seventeen calves were used (32.2 ± 5.2 kg of body weight) and the microchips were implanted four days after birth. The microchips were implanted at navel, ear and tail base (subcutaneous), neck (cleidocephalicus) and internal face of leg (gracilis) (intramuscular). Rectal temperature (RT, °C), obtained with a clinical thermometer, was considered as core temperature. Air temperature (AT), relative humidity (RH) and the temperature and humidity index (THI) were evaluated at the same time of rectal and microchip temperature measurements over 56 days. The range of AT, RH and THI was 7.6-34.4 °C, 17.5-99.0% and 50.6 to 91.5. The average for rectum, ear, neck, tail, leg, and navel were 38.7; 36.9; 38.0; 37.0, 37.8 and 37.0 °C. The intramuscular implantations had closest values to RT. The correlations between RT and ear, neck, tail, leg, and navel temperatures were 0.56, 0.60, 0.60, 0.53 e 0.48. The RT prediction based on microchip data had precision (rc) ranged between 0.49 and 0.60 and accuracy (Cb) between 0.79 and 0.88. The inclusion of AT, RH and THI as predictive variables in models decrease the mean absolute error (23%) and increase the precision (21.3%) and accuracy (10.2%). The Concordance Correlation Coefficient and root-mean-square error for equations using tail or neck microchips were 0.68 and 0.67, and 0.29 and 0.28 °C, respectively. The tail base is a promising site for microchip implantation to predict rectal temperature. The inclusion of air temperature as a predictive variable in the models is recommended.

Kinematic gait characteristics of straight line walk in clinically sound dairy cows.

The aim of this study is to describe the kinematic gait characteristics of straight line walk in clinically sound dairy cows using body mounted Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) at multiple anatomical locations. The temporal parameters used are speed and non-speed normalized stance duration, bipedal and tripedal support durations, maximal protraction and retraction angles of the distal limbs and vertical displacement curves of the upper body. Gait analysis was performed by letting 17 dairy cows walk in a straight line at their own chosen pace while equipped with IMU sensors on tubera sacrale, left and right tuber coxae (LTC and RTC), back, withers, head, neck and all four lower limbs. Data intervals with stride by stride regularity were selected based on video data. For temporal parameters, the median was calculated and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated based on linear mixed model (LMM) analysis, while for limb and vertical displacement curves, the median and most typical curves were calculated. The temporal parameters and distal limb angles showed consistent results with low variance and LMM analysis showed non-overlapping CI for all temporal parameters. The distal limb angle curves showed a larger and steeper retraction angle range for the distal front limbs compared with the hind limbs. The vertical displacement curves of the sacrum, withers, LTC and RTC showed a consistent sinusoidal pattern while the head, back and collar curves were less consistent and showed more variation between and within cows. This kinematic description might allow to objectively differentiate between normal and lame gait in the future and determine the best anatomical location for sensor attachment for lameness detection purposes.

Potential effects of GPS collars on the behaviour of two red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) in Rotterdam Zoo.

GPS collars are frequently used to study the (behavioural) ecology of species. However, such collars can cause behavioural changes and can have negative physiological effects on the individuals wearing them. A pilot study to obtain data on behavioural and physiological effects of GPS collars on the target species would therefore be recommended, especially when it concerns rare or endangered species. The red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is a small carnivore endemic to the mountains of Central Asia that is currently classified as endangered. There is a lack in knowledge on the species ecology which could be enhanced by a study using GPS-technology. As a pilot study, the two adult red pandas in Rotterdam Zoo were observed before and after fitting a GPS-collar, to determine possible behavioural effects of wearing a collar. Although the study did not take place under ideal circumstances, indications of both behavioural, e.g. increased shaking behaviour, and physical, e.g. abrasions, effects of the collar were found. Even though our results were only based on two individuals, our findings stress the need for pilot studies in controlled environments before GPS collars to ensure safety of the study species and validity of the collected data.

Veterinary-prescribed physical activity promotes walking in healthy dogs and people.

BACKGROUND: Regular physical activity (PA) promotes health and can prevent and treat diseases among both humans and dogs. Unfortunately, most U.S. adults do not meet PA recommendations, and many dogs are also insufficiently active. Veterinary-prescribed PA programs have shown some success in increasing activity among overweight dogs, but the impacts of such programs have not yet been tested for efficacy among otherwise-healthy dogs and owners. In addition, although wearable devices that monitor PA and provide individuals with feedback (e.g., progress toward a daily step goal) can effectively increase human PA, it is unclear what impact similar wearable devices have on human and dog PA when the PA-monitoring devices are worn by dogs. The present study assessed the impact of an 8-week veterinary-prescribed PA program on activity and health among dogs and their owners, and randomized participants (n = 59) to two groups: one in which PA was measured but not visible to participants (n = 30), and one in which PA was measured and real time feedback was visible through a wearable device (n = 29). RESULTS: Participants in both groups showed significant PA increases over the course of the 8-week program. Biomedical testing performed at the veterinary clinic facilitated early diagnosis of systemic illness in one human participant. The frequency of hypertension in human participants decreased significantly from baseline to the end of the program (week 8). Other health indices (e.g., BMI in humans, body weight and BCS in dogs) improved, albeit not to a statistically significant extent, over the course of the program. There were no significant differences on the outcomes of interest between the two experimental conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Veterinary-prescribed PA programs appear promising for increasing PA among insufficiently active but otherwise healthy dogs as well as their owners. Additional testing of veterinary-prescribed PA is warranted, particularly at other types of veterinary clinics (e.g., private practices). Incorporating wearable devices permitting owners to track canine PA did not appear necessary for obtaining these benefits; however, additional studies investigating alternative devices or different time periods may be warranted.

Graduate Student Literature Review: Evaluating the appropriate use of wearable accelerometers in research to monitor lying behaviors of dairy cows.

Until recently, animal behavior has been studied through close and extensive observation of individual animals and has relied on subjective assessments. Wearable technologies that allow the automation of dairy cow behavior recording currently dominate the precision dairy technology market. Wearable accelerometers provide new opportunities in animal ethology using quantitative measures of dairy cow behavior. Recent research developments indicate that quantitative measures of behavior may provide new objective on-farm measures to assist producers in predicting, diagnosing, and managing disease or injury on farms and allowing producers to monitor cow comfort and estrus behavior. These recent research developments and a large increase in the availability of wearable accelerometers have led to growing interest of both researchers and producers in this technology. This review aimed to summarize the studies that have validated lying behavior derived from accelerometers and to describe the factors that should be considered when using leg-attached accelerometers and neck-worn collars to describe lying behavior (e.g., lying time and lying bouts) in dairy cows for research purposes. Specifically, we describe accelerometer technology, including the instrument properties and methods for recording motion; the raw data output from accelerometers; and methods developed for the transformation of raw data into meaningful and interpretable information. We highlight differences in validation study outcomes for researchers to consider when developing their own experimental methodology for the use of accelerometers to record lying behaviors in dairy cows. Finally, we discuss several factors that may influence the data recorded by accelerometers and highlight gaps in the literature. We conclude that researchers using accelerometers to record lying behaviors in dairy cattle should (1) select an accelerometer device that, based on device attachment and sampling rate, is appropriate to record the behavior of interest; (2) account for cow-, farm-, and management-related factors that could affect the lying behaviors recorded; (3) determine the appropriate editing criteria for the accurate interpretation of their data; (4) support their chosen method of recording, editing, and interpreting the data by referencing an appropriately designed and accurate validation study published in the literature; and (5) report, in detail, their methodology to ensure others can decipher how the data were captured and understand potential limitations of their methodology. We recommend that standardized protocols be developed for collecting, analyzing, and reporting lying behavior data recorded using wearable accelerometers for dairy cattle.

Emotion estimation using a wearable heart rate monitoring device in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) during veterinary clinical procedures.

Fatal accidents in captive elephants occasionally occur because humans are unable to gauge elephants' emotions solely by their behavior. The intellectual capacity of elephants makes them capable of understanding circumstantial changes and associated emotions, allowing them to react accordingly. Physiological markers, such as heart rate variability, may be effective in determining an elephant's emotional state. In this study, a wearable heart rate monitor was used to determine the emotional state of a female Indian captive elephant (Elephas maximus indicus). The average heart rate was higher when the elephant underwent painful treatment than when it underwent non-painful treatment. In addition, the heart rate increased both before and after the treatment, which included radiography and blood collection.

Wearable sensor shown to specifically quantify pruritic behaviors in dogs.

BACKGROUND: Wearable technology is an exciting new field in humans and animals. In dogs activity monitors have helped to provide objective measurement tools where pet owner observation had been the only source of information. Previous research has focused on measuring overall activity versus rest. This has been relatively useful in determining changes in activity in orthopedic disease or post-surgical cases [Malek et al., BMC Vet Res 8:185, 2012, Yashari et al., BMC Vet Res 11:146, 2015]. Assessment of pruritus via changes in activity, however, requires an assumption that increased activity is due to scratching or other pruritic behaviors. This is an inaccurate method with obvious flaws as other behaviors may also register as greater activity. The objective of this study was to validate the ability of a multidimensional high frequency sensor and advanced computer analysis system, (Vetrax®, AgLogica Holdings, Inc., Norcross, GA, USA) to specifically identify pruritic behaviors (scratching and head shaking). To establish differences between behaviors, sensor and time stamped video data were collected from 361 normal and pruritic dogs. Video annotations were made by two observers independently, while blinded to sensor data, and then evaluated for agreement. Annotations that agreed between the two were used for further analysis. The annotations specified behaviors at specific times in order to compare with sensor data. A computer algorithm was developed to interpret and differentiate between these behaviors. Test subject data was then utilized to test and score the system's ability to accurately predict behaviors. RESULTS: Results for prediction of head shaking behavior included sensitivity and specificity of 72.16% and 99.78% respectively. Analysis of scratching produced sensitivity and specificity of 76.85% and 99.73% respectively. These results illustrate the ability of the system to accurately report both scratching and head shaking with an overall accuracy of 99.24% and 99.56% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study validates the use of this system to accurately and objectively report scratching and head shaking in dogs. While a small portion of scratching or head shaking behaviors may be missed, as indicated by the sensitivity, when detected, the confidence that these behaviors occurred is extremely high. These factors make this system a very useful tool for objective assessment of pruritus in clinical and research settings.