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A study on the applicability of implantable microchip transponders for body temperature measurements in pigs
Louise Lohse1, Ase Uttenthal, Claes Enøe
1National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Lindholm, DK-4771 Kalvehave, Denmark.
Background:
The applicability of an electronic monitoring system using microchip transponders for measurement of body temperatures was tested in 6-week-old conventional Danish weaners infected with classical swine fever virus (CSFV). Subcutaneous tissue temperatures obtained by the implantable transponders were compared with rectal temperatures, recorded by a conventional digital thermometer.
Methods:
In a preliminary study, transponders were inserted subcutaneously at 6 different positions of the body of 5 pigs. The transponders positioned by the ear base provided the best correlation to rectal temperature. To test the stability of the monitoring system in a larger group of pigs, transponders were therefore inserted by the left ear base in a subsequent infection experiment with 30 pigs.
Results:
Generally, the microchip transponders measured a subcutaneous tissue temperature, which was about 1 degrees C lower than the rectal temperature. However, a simple linear relationship between the measures of the two methods was found.
Conclusions:
Our study showed that the tested body monitoring system may represent a promising tool to obtain an approximate correlate of body temperatures in groups of pigs. In contrast, however, the tested system did not constitute a suitable tool to measure body temperatures of individual animals in the present pig infection experiment.
