The goal of a telemetry experiment is to monitor various parameters in ECG, EEG, EMG, blood pressure, activity, temperature, etc in active animals.

The telemetry experiment starts with implanting the appropriate transmitters into the research subjects.  This is followed by a week healing period, after which you can run your tests.  The transmitters are battery operated with a finite life time, which for the mouse transmitters is 6 weeks, for the rat transmitters is 4 months.  The transmitter can be turned on and off with a magnet, i.e. it can be kept turned off during recovery and be turned on only during the active monitoring period. For that, the animals with the implants are placed in a cage on top of a receiver. The receiver then passes on the measured parameters to the Data Exchange Matrix.  Parameters can be monitored continuously or at intervals, for example for 1 min every 20 min.  The Matrix can only handle 4 signals at a time, however it is possible to alternate the groups and have another 4 signals recorded during the non-recording time of the first group.

The transmitters are sterilized before they are re-used for another experiment.  When they reach the end of the battery life they are sent back to the manufacture to be refurbished at a cost of approximately of 20% of the original. While it is possible to use mouse transmitters in rats, it is not recommended.

Detailed description of how to do these steps is available on the DSI website.