Biotelemetry: an original approach to experimental models of inflammation

Biotelemetry is a new biological technology which evaluates continuous spontaneous locomotor activity and body temperature in rodents. The telemetry system comprises a transmitter implanted in the peritoneal cavity of the rodent, and a receiver placed beneath the animal's cage. The receiver detects the radio waves and the activity of the rodents as counts which are registered in the computer system, and the adapter detects the calibrated body temperature. First, we showed that biotelemetric studies of different species (rats, guinea pigs, mice and gerbils) provide substantial information about their circadian rhythms. Second, using the most common examples employed in pharmacology of inflammation (hyperthermia, arthritis, ischemia-reperfusion and so on) biotelemetry has helped us to clarify the pathophysiological significance of the parameters of temperature and mobility in several experimental models in rodents.