TailTimer

TailTimer automates measurement of tail withdrawal latency and water temperature for the rodent tail immersion assay to improve precision and reproducibility in acute thermal nociception studies.

Key Features:

• Raspberry Pi automation: Uses a Raspberry Pi single-board computer to automate measurement of tail withdrawal latency.
• Temperature control and monitoring: Continuously monitors water temperature with a sensor and enforces stability within ± 0.25 °C of the target before testing.
• Automated recording: Automatically records tail withdrawal latency together with concurrent water temperature.
• RFID integration: Integrates a radio frequency identification (RFID) system to record each animal's unique ID and to accept RFID keys as software commands.
• Reproducibility: Automation reduces variability associated with manual timing and temperature recording, improving data reproducibility.
• Temperature–latency relationship: Demonstrates a linear relationship between tail withdrawal latency and water temperature across 47 - 50 °C.
• Detection of biological differences: Detects strain- and sex-dependent differences in thermal pain sensitivity.

Scientific Applications:

• Acute thermal nociception: Quantitative assessment of acute thermal pain using the tail immersion assay.
• Nociception research: Investigation of mechanisms of pain perception and sensitivity, including genetic (strain) and sex effects.
• Addiction studies: Use as an outcome measure of thermal nociception in addiction-related research.

Methodology:

Runs on a Raspberry Pi single-board computer, uses a temperature sensor to continuously monitor water temperature and allow testing only when within ± 0.25 °C of target, integrates RFID to record animal IDs and accept RFID keys as commands, and automatically records tail withdrawal latency and water temperature.