Med Associates hosts successful Short
Course in Neuroscience at SfN 2007

Karl Zurn, founder of Med-Associates, was on hand to answer product questions at the Getting Started with Med-PC class at the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 2007.

We continued our 2nd Annual Short Courses in Neuroscience workshop series with a workshop titled “Introduction to Med Associates Operant Conditioning System – Getting Started With MED PC®” at this year’s Society for Neuroscience convention. Our workshop was held at the beautiful San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina. It was well-attended by researchers desiring to learn more about setting up a Med Associates Behavioral Test system and who wanted to get started writing their own research procedures using the powerful MED PC® control software.

Thank you to all who attended for making this another successful workshop. In addition, a special thanks to Dr. Steve Dworkin who assisted in teaching the course along with our own Dr. Gerry Herrera (V.P. of Research and Development at Med Associates), and Dave Hughes (Computer Software Customer Support).

Dr. Steve Dworkin, PhD, speaks to the attendees of the Getting Started with Med-PC class at the Society for Neuroscience		Students were able to examine Med Associates Products in detail at the Getting Started with Med-PC class at the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 2007.		David Hughes, Computer Software Support at Med Associates, answers questions from the attendees of the Getting Started with Med-PC class at the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 2007.

New Products Unveiled at SfN 2007

 

Mouse Low-profile Wireless Running Wheel

Expand the scope of your research with this effortless device!

The current trend of housing mouse colonies in individually ventilated cages (IVCs) has allowed dramatic increases in housing density, improved environmental control, and better biosecurity. However, the low profile configuration of many mouse IVCs has made it more difficult to add enrichment devices, such as a running wheel, to the mouse home cage. Our new wireless low-profile mouse running wheel represents a state-of-the-art device that enables quantitative measurements of mouse running levels in most standard IVCs. We use the popular “Fast Trac™” running wheel surface from BioServ (www.bio-serv.com) along with our proprietary wireless transmitter to get running data from the home cage to computer without any wires or cables.

System Highlights

• Measure circadian rhythms while adding environmental enrichment.
• Quantify running levels and how they correlate with behavioral changes.
• Fits easily into most standard mouse ventilated rack cages.
• Open running surface enables wheel running studies on mice that are instrumented or tethered.
• Easy to clean: wheel surface and plastic support base can be cage washed; wheel transmitter can be wiped with sanitation cloths.
• Affordable and economical.
• Up to 1024 running wheels can be monitored by a single computer.
• Optional wireless Environmental Sensor enables measuring temperature, relative humidity, and light levels in the vivarium. Each computer can monitor up to 4 environmental sensors.
• Energy efficient and nearly maintenance free.
  (3 AAA Batteries required).

 

SOF-722: SoftCr-Pro™ Cumulative Record Graphical Software

Our new version of SoftCr™, SoftCr-Pro™, is fully compatible with MED-PC® IV, (SOF-735) Schedule Manager™ (SOF-706), and SmartCr™ (SOF-726). Like the original SoftCr™ (SOF-721), it can display and/or print partial or complete cumulative records from data files created by the MED-PC®, Schedule Manager™ or SmartCr™ systems. One significant improvement is cumulative records can be viewed on the same computer running MED-PC®.

System Highlights

• Generates cumulative records in real time on the same computer running MED-PC®
• Can set up to generate records on networked computers - watch an experiment in progress in the lab from the computer in your office.
• Dynamic, on-screen scaling of the Y-axis and scrolling along the X-axis allow the user to focus on critical time periods of the cumulative record. At any time while reviewing a record, the user may print the screen or the entire record.
• Easy-to-use menus respond to keyboard entries, function keys, and mouse point-and-click commands.
• Displays up to 10 event pens that independently track responses and reinforcing events. Event pens may be used to mark a response,the beginning and end of code segments or stimulus durations.
• The Edit Parameters function allows the user to customize the display to best represent the feature of the experiment.
• Generate real time cumulative records on the same computer running MED-PC®
• The ability to turn on or off Trace Lines and Event Pens. This allows the user to focus only on the data that are of the most importance.

 

Water Maze Video Tracking System

System Highlights

• Video clips stored on computer.
• Software Interface features intuitive database,
  allowing full control and management of
  protocols and study design.
• Video camera captures images of animal
  swimming in Maze.
• Software tracks animal and analyzes swim
  patterns.
• On-demand (Atlantis) Platform
• Submersible platform that raises when the
  animal swims over the appropriate location.

 

	Database allows full control of study design. Organize your study using features such as: - Day of session - Animal ID - Platform location - Maximum total duration
Define your pool parameters, such as size, platform location, start location, using a simple graphical interface.
	Track animals swimming in real time. Control an on-demand (“Atlantis”) platform. Get real-time analysis parameters, such as latency to platform, average velocity, and other swim path information.

 

Sincerely,

Gerry Herrera, Ph.D.
Vice President of Research and Development, Med Associates, Inc.
President, Catamount Research & Development, Inc.