Improvement of the Mouse Grimace Scale set-up for implementing a semi-automated Mouse Grimace Scale scoring (Part 1)

Ernst, Lisa; Kopaczka, Marcin; Schulz, M; Talbot, Steven R.; Zieglowski, Leonie; Meyer, M.; Bruch, Stefan; Merhof, Dorit; Tolba, René

doi:10.1177/0023677219881655

Cited by 22 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The front side contained three air holes at the bottom, and the back side contained several air holes. Mice were recorded with a Canon EOS 750 D camera for 12 minutes 40,41 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

One score to rule them all: severity assessment in laboratory mice

Talbot

Struve

Wassermann

et al. 2020

Preprint

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18Animal welfare and the refinement of experimental procedures are fundamental aspects of 19 biomedical research. They provide the basis for robust experimental designs and reproducibility of 20 results. In many countries, the determination of welfare is a mandatory legal requirement and 21 implies the assessment of the degree of the severity that an animal experiences during an 22 experiment. However, for an effective severity assessment, an objective and exact 23 approach/system/strategy is needed. In light of these demands, we have developed the Relative 24 Severity Assessment (RELSA) score. 25 This comprehensive composite score was established on the basis of physiological and behavioral 26 data from a surgical mouse study. Body weight, the Mouse Grimace Scale score, burrowing behavior, 27 and the telemetry-derived parameters heart rate, heart rate variability, temperature, and general 28 activity were used to investigate the quality of indicating severity during postoperative recovery. The 29 RELSA scores not only revealed individual severity levels but also allowed a comparison of severity in 30 distinct mouse models addressing colitis, sepsis, and restraint stress using a k-means clustering 31 approach with the maximum achieved RELSA scores. 32We discriminated and classified data from sepsis nonsurvivors into the highest relative severity level. 33Data from mice after intraperitoneal transmitter implantation and sepsis survivor al were located in 34 the next lower cluster, while data from mice subjected to colitis and restraint stress were placed in 35 the lowest severity cluster. Analysis of individual variables and their combinations revealed model-36and time-dependent contributions to severity levels. 37In conclusion, we propose the RELSA score as a validated tool for objective real-time applicability in 38 severity assessment and as a first step towards a unified and accessible risk assessment tool in 39 biomedical research. As an effective severity assessment system, it will fundamentally improve 40 animal welfare, as well as data quality and reproducibility. 41Laboratory Animals 3 or the European Directive on the protection of animals used for scientific 48 purposes 4 . Animal welfare describes a status of high quality of life, which relies on the consideration 49 and promotion of things to achieve good animal welfare 5,6 . Its assessment requires the monitoring of 50 animal affective states with both positive and negative valance 7 . The term severity assessment more 51 specifically addresses the categorization of negative affective states of animals under experimental 52 conditions; however, both the promotion of welfare and assessment of severity aim at the 53 recognition of any sign of suffering and thereby are essential for possible interventions to relieve the 54 burden during experiments and promote the refinement of procedures. Nevertheless, to achieve 55 compliance with scientific and regulatory requirements, an exact, evidence-based severity 56 assessment and the classification of severity ...

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“…The front side contained three air holes at the bottom, and the back side contained several air holes. Mice were recorded with a Canon EOS 750 D camera for 12 minutes 40,41 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

One score to rule them all: severity assessment in laboratory mice

Talbot

Struve

Wassermann

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A future area for development and benefit is the use of software automation in the development and scoring of facial expressions. The use of scoring software along with the installation of video cameras into enclosures may be able to enhance and hasten the development of grimaces, offer highly accurate grimace scores for animals in pain but also allow the remote monitoring and scoring of affected animals [ 41 , 59 , 134 , 135 ].…”

Section: Advantages and Usesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A standard training program would be useful for grimace score users and has been useful for other pain scoring systems [ 38 , 46 , 86 ]. Part of the development, training and implementation of grimaces could be enhanced by the use of various technologies such as automated or semiautomated software for scale development and scoring via video surveillance [ 41 , 59 , 134 , 135 ]. These nascent technologies are often unfeasible due to cost, infrastructure constraints and a lack of development but in the future their use may play a greater role in grimace scoring systems.…”

Section: Application and Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Grimace Scores: Tools to Support the Identification of Pain in Mammals Used in Research

Cohen

Beths

2020

Animals

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The 3Rs, Replacement, Reduction and Refinement, is a framework to ensure the ethical and justified use of animals in research. The implementation of refinements is required to alleviate and minimise the pain and suffering of animals in research. Public acceptability of animal use in research is contingent on satisfying ethical and legal obligations to provide pain relief along with humane endpoints. To fulfil this obligation, staff, researchers, veterinarians, and technicians must rapidly, accurately, efficiently and consistently identify, assess and act on signs of pain. This ability is paramount to uphold animal welfare, prevent undue suffering and mitigate possible negative impacts on research. Identification of pain may be based on indicators such as physiological, behavioural, or physical ones. Each has been used to develop different pain scoring systems with potential benefits and limitations in identifying and assessing pain. Grimace scores are a promising adjunctive behavioural technique in some mammalian species to identify and assess pain in research animals. The use of this method can be beneficial to animal welfare and research outcomes by identifying animals that may require alleviation of pain or humane intervention. This paper highlights the benefits, caveats, and potential applications of grimace scales.

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“…The automation of methods for the assessment of affective states in rodents is an emerging field to facilitate observation, to increase throughput, and to reduce the putative influence of the experimenter. Especially in the area of home-cage tracking and the detection of changes in facial expression, considerable progress has been made in recent years [108][109][110][111].…”

Section: Automation Of Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, the automated recording of the pain face of mice and rats has also been advanced in recent years. The integration of deep learning and rodent face finder enables a semiautomated and non-human-biased evaluation of the grimace scale [55,110,111,[122][123][124]. For black mice, 99% accuracy can be achieved [110].…”

Section: Automation Of Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Affective State in Laboratory Rodents to Promote Animal Welfare—What Is the Progress in Applied Refinement Research?

Jirkof

Rudeck

Lewejohann

2019

Animals

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An animal’s capacity to suffer is a prerequisite for any animal welfare concern, and the minimization of suffering is a key aim of refinement research. In contrast to the traditional focus on avoiding or reducing negative welfare states, modern animal welfare concepts highlight the importance of promoting positive welfare states in laboratory animals. Reliable assessments of affective states, as well as the knowledge of how to elicit positive affective states, are central to this concept. Important achievements have been made to assess pain and other negative affective states in animals in the last decades, but it is only recently that the neurobiology of positive emotions in humans and animals has been gaining more interest. Thereby, the need for promotion of positive affective states for laboratory animals is gaining more acceptance, and methods allowing the assessment of affective states in animals have been increasingly introduced. In this overview article, we present common and emerging methods to assess affective states in laboratory rodents. We focus on the implementation of these methods into applied refinement research to identify achieved progress as well as the future potential of these tools to improve animal welfare in animal-based research.

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Improvement of the Mouse Grimace Scale set-up for implementing a semi-automated Mouse Grimace Scale scoring (Part 1)

Cited by 22 publications

References 16 publications

One score to rule them all: severity assessment in laboratory mice

One score to rule them all: severity assessment in laboratory mice

Grimace Scores: Tools to Support the Identification of Pain in Mammals Used in Research

Assessing Affective State in Laboratory Rodents to Promote Animal Welfare—What Is the Progress in Applied Refinement Research?

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