Automated Animal Behavior Analysis – Software, Hardware, and Services

Clever Sys is a leading bioinformatics company specializing in software and hardware for automated animal behavior analysis. Our video-based Behavior Recognition technology provides comprehensive tools for pre-clinical research including all necessary hardware for various behavior analysis paradigms, video and data acquisition and automated behavior analysis software. Clever Sys brings behavioral testing into the twenty-first century, enhancing video tracking with our patented next generation Behavior Recognition technology!

Explore our full suite of Software, Hardware, and service offerings. Or, you can also start by exploring the Application Areas that you may be interested in.

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New Product Releases

An exciting new method for analyzing mice social behavior

Date: 2019-07-02 13:38:59

Clever Sys is excited to share the latest and most-thorough publication to date highlighting Clever Sys' RFID-Assisted SocialScan being used to track 4 animals in a large complex and enriched environment over an entire week. The system reliably identifies individual mice among groups of four without the use of color marking and automatically captures social and non-social behaviors for analysis.  The article is formally in press in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods, but is now available online at this link.   RFID image 1

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LadderScan helps scientists in Autism research

Date: 2018-12-31 14:38:32

Clever Sys is excited to announce the first publication that uses our LadderScan motor learning system. In this paper by Wang et al. (Link), the LadderScan system was able to show in autism studies how prenatal mice that were exposed to valproic acid had impaired motor learning, while other approaches were not able to show the levels of sensitivity that the LadderScan system provides! The YouTube video is also published at this location.

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Frictionless TreadScan Automated Systems

Date: 2018-11-23 18:53:22

Frictionless TreadScan is the latest addition to our product line for motor function, and it is also the newest for measuring gait and neuro-function simultaneously on a head-fixed animal. The frictionless TreadScan is a fully automated test for detecting coordinated neuro-activities while the animal walking is on a frictionless treadmill with its head fixed. The system consists of a special treadmill that has a transparent belt like our ExerGait treadmill in TreadScan system, however, the belt has almost no friction and the animals can walk on it to propel the belt backward. The system has a head fixing device that can keep its head fixed while actively walking so that neuron firing, optogenetics, fiber photometry etc. can be performed on the active animal. A mirror is installed underneath the transparent frictionless belt and sees all the foot prints of animal walking on the belt. A high speed camera capable of capturing video at 100 frames per second or greater is installed opposite to the mirror and records the video using the BCamCapture software. Liquid reward delivery is achieved by installing a pump that delivers liquid to the animal for drinking. Control and measurement of delivery is implemented. When neuron firing, optogenetics, fiber photometry etc. are executed, those generated signals that are read and recorded in-sync with the videos. Enhanced TreadScan software, as used in TreadScan system, is used to analyze the recorded video and signal code. It will generate complete set of gait data, as well as the signal code. TreadScan outputs the detailed results of these parameters from analysis into Microsoft Excel and gives statistical results to meet research requirements. Advanced functionalities such as batch mode analysis, group export, direct analysis of AVI captured files, and post‐hoc conversion to compressed MPEG videos to save disk‐space are available. A sample screenshot of the TreadScan software is shown to the right. The stride data is shown on the right for each foot individually. The results are updated as the analysis takes place.

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RFID‐Assisted SocialScan

Date: 2018-02-12 18:53:32

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems use radio frequency to identify, locate and track people, assets and animals. RFID‐assist has been successfully added to Clever Sys Behavior Recognition products to enhance our lab animal behavior analysis system functionality, performance, and reliability. RFID‐ Assisted SocialScan is first such application. SocialScan is a member of our SocialScan Suite that quantitatively and qualitatively measures social behaviors of two or more animals that are enclosed in a single arena, whether it is a simple home cage or a complex arena. SocialScan captures and tracks these animals (rodents) in an arena, and automatically determines various social interactions among them. Using implanted RFID tags in the animal and a platform consisting of an array of RFID detectors placed under the device (cage or arena), the system utilizes radio frequency to localize the tags implanted into animals, thereby constantly monitoring the position of each animal. Simultaneously, video analysis tracks the entire body, position, and many other features of each animal. Combining information obtained from both of these channels, the SocialScan system is able to track the animals extremely reliably over extended periods of time! Pure video‐based analysis that requires distinguishable marks on the animals is unable to scale beyond 2 or 3 animals. However, with the advent of RFID‐assisted video analysis, we are able to track many more animals with accurate IDs. This is a landmark innovation that Clever Sys is proud to offer going forward. SocialScan has several unique and important features in analyzing social behaviors among animals. First, the system can differentiate multiple animals without artificially coloring (labeling) them, as long as they have some perceivable difference in terms of natural color or size. The system will automatically determine who is who, even after two animals get together and then separate. The system can automatically differentiate two animals even when they are in contact, an extremely important feature to have. The RFID‐assist further enhances this capability. If visible marking is insufficient or impractical, or if you simply need more accuracy, you have the option now of using RFID‐Assisted SocialScan to successfully resolve any issues with tracking IDs. SocialScan system can automatically determine if animals are in contact with each other, if any two animals are approaching each other, leaving (avoiding) each other, one is following the other, or simply, or if one is sniffing at the other’s head, mid‐ body or genital area. More advanced events have been recently added, including Staring, Active Contact or Passive Contact, specific body‐part to body‐part contact, and Mount. Dynamically updated Social Distance between pairs of animals (e.g., how many times does Animal A get to within 10 cm of Animal B) are also available. Second, the system can automatically identify the head and tail of each of animal; therefore there is no need to artificially color their head and tail parts. The system will determine the social interactions of approach, avoidance, sniffing, and contact based on the automatically detected heads and tails of animals, and their relative spatial positions and movements. Third, the techniques for automation of the categorization and quantification of social interactions between animals have been applied to achieve high throughput screening. System architecture has been optimized for high throughput screening . The Realtime Option is necessary to perform realtime analysis where the live video feed into the computer is compressed, encoded, saved to the hard drive while simultaneously full analysis of the video is performed. Contact us to learn more or to schedule a demo of this latest innovation from Clever Sys.

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Optogenetics and Fiber Photometry

Date: 2017-07-12 18:53:18

Optogenetics and fiber photometry are neuro-modulation technologies in neuroscience that utilizes a combination of light and genetics to control and monitor neurons in vivo. Clever Sys Inc., programs can be synchronized with optogenetic actuators and sensors and fiber photometry devices allowing for acquisition of behavioral data during experiments. Any of our software programs can be integrated with optogenetics/fiber photometry by using TTL and a specially developed software interface. This brings research into a new realm with the possibility of simultaneous control of biochemical events of living freely behaving animals and the collection of this data in both high-throughput and real-time. Many of our hardware devices such as our treadmill, runway, operant chambers are fully equipped to accommodate the need for fiber optic tethers so animal movement during behavioral testing will not be inhibited. Ideal for experiments mapping function of the amygdala such as fear conditioning, studies for targeting pharmacotherapies and addiction via nucleus accumbens, expression of pyramidal neurons in PFC and genetic components of social behavior and drug efficacy in neuropsychiatric disorders etc. Whatever your experimental needs Clever Sys, will work with you to provide the best system for your data collection needs to provide high quality reliable results and the best behavioral analysis software available. Although any of our programs can be integrated with optogenetic/fiber photometry systems optimal candidates include: • SeizureScan • HomecageScan • GroupHouseScan • FreezeScan • ChamberScan • GaitScan • TreadScan • RunwayScan • TopScan • SocialScan

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AquaScan

Date: 2017-07-12 18:53:15

Clever Sys offers a highly versatile and customizable range of software options for the analysis of Zebrafish (Danio rerio) behavior in both adults and larvae. AquaScan provides single/Multiple organisms tracking along with TTL control for stimulus delivery. Behavior can be analyzed for single organism, multiple fish, or for groups, like fish activities, animal traces, shoaling statistics, group behavior statistics, zone-revelant behaviors, etc . It can be used for traditional and specialized paradigms such as: Open field, CPP, T-maze, Y-Maze, Fear Conditioning, Fear Response (predatory), Seizure, Locomotion, Photoaxis tests, Optokinetic tests, Shoaling and Social Behavior Test. AquaScan Features Video Acquisition, Fish Tracking and Behavior Recognition. Experiment starting/stopping time control Light/Shock Stimulus Control Contextual Stimuli Control Real-time and offline data acquisition Single/multiple fish, multiple group acquisition simultaneously. Support multiple channel acquisitions Data analysis with different protocols. Original data, behavior data export and visualization (Excel or Open Office) Extensive experiment database management Batch analysis White, IR, or Red light capability AquaScan Behavior (x,y) coordinats and trace for each fish Times, duration, moving distance and average speed for each fish in each zone Immobile, low activity, normal activity and intensive activity Sharp turning Sniffing specific zones, like cage bottom Shoaling: pair-wise fish inter-distance Social contact, following, chasing, etc. Sociability: bouts of several fish swimming closely in a similar direction. Drop test: statistics of distance and speed for all fish Statistics of group behaviors: number of active animals, average moving distance, etc. cardiovascular data recording, analysis and export Up to 92 arenas for each camera, multiple camera multiplexing CSI-CPP-ZF The CSI-CPP-ZF Apparatus has been specially designed for Zebrafish tests of conditioned place preference or self administration studies. The device has 3 lanes with removable doors some of which have holes designed to close off or allow free passage of animals in between sections of the chamber. The CPP chamber is made of clear acrylic to optimize video observation and to allow ambient backlighting for superior tracking. ZebraEnv  Our ZebraEnv is a newly designed Zebrafish Larvae analysis chamber system that includes state-of-the-art features for providing a finely controlled environment for larvae behavior analysis. It contains a high-speed digital camera placed at the top viewing downward at a stage that is back-lit by a dimmable LED light panel whose intensity is capable of being adjusted by the software. The stage comprises a water bath with the ability to insert well-plates of standard size. Up to 96-count well plates can be accommodated. The salient feature of the stage is a unique vibration-free temperature control system. It uses a vibration free heating element instead of commonly used water-pump based water flow bath that can cause vibration effects on the wells. Our design does not have a water flow that cause vibrations in the wells. This is very critical for zebrafish larvae. The camera is placed strategically such that it produces distortion free imaging of the outermost wells in a dense well plate StereoScan Comprehensive Top and Side view analysis! Detailed information on Zebrafish behavior Events detected include: zone visits, crossovers, speed, motion, dist to points, dist to zones, orient to points, circling, motion, in-place motion, shape, stretch attend, head dip, turn, disappear, % body in zone, rear up, come down, hang, walk, jump, groom, eat, drink, sleep, etc. Continuous recording available for long term analysis High-Throughput Option for up to 2 cages simultaneously.

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