TopScan Suite
TopScan is a general-purpose behavior analysis system utilizing a ceiling-mounted camera to display a top-down view of the entire experimental apparatus. TopScan was the first system to track the limbs, head, and tail of animals in order to provide the most accurate behavior analysis results possible. TopScan can be used in many types of experiments, from the most basic animal tracking tasks (like open field) to advanced tasks requiring complex arenas and precise detection of head and nose orientation (such as novel-object recognition).
Product Description [PDF opens in new window]
One of TopScan's major advantages is its capacity for high-throughput screening. System architecture for high-throughput screening allows analysis of up to thirty-two (32) arenas on a single system, depending on arena size. Such powerful processing is possible because TopScan can integrate data from multiple cameras. The High-Throughput product option is necessary to analyze more than a single arena simultaneously. The Real-Time option is necessary to perform real-time analysis, in which the live video is fed to a computer, then compressed, encoded, and saved to the hard drive while the program performs simultaneous analysis of that video.
TopScan incorporates many advanced features, including support for full color analysis, automatic adaptation to non-uniform or changing environment, automated handling of light/dark areas, and variable-speed playback of specific video segments for specific detected behavior.
System Requirements
- Windows-based PC (XP, 2000)
- Intel high-speed processor (Pentium 4 or better)
- Special videocard for real-time analysis
- Large HDD capacity for storage
- Good lighting conditions
- IR camera or red light for dark experiments
- Video-multiplexer for multi-camera feed
Complete turnkey systems (including all necessary hardware and software) are available. Custom design of your environment to facilitate analysis, including lighting condition setup, IR/red light setup, cage enclosures, video integration, and video-feed to computer is also available.
TopScan Lite
TopScan Lite is a simplified version of TopScan that uses simple single-point ("center of mass") tracking to monitor animal movement. It is comparable to TopScan in performance, allowing high-throughput and real-time processing, but with fewer advanced tracking features. TopScan Lite is the least expensive, best perfoming tracking system available on the market today, and thus it is ideal for labs on tight budgets or for simple experiments where complex tracking (of individual limbs or head orientation) is not needed. Please see the TopScan Lite product page for more detailed information.
TopScan Components
The TopScan Suite is an extensible framework that comprises four separate products: LocoScan, for locomotor behavior; ObjectScan, for object recognition tasks; MazeScan, for various maze tasks; and WaterMazeScan, for Morris water maze tasks. These programs may be purchased separately or in any combination. Additional functionalities for integration into TopScan include circling, flat-back approach, grooming and thigmotaxis. TopScan can be directly integrated with other Clever Sys products, such as AnnoStar, SocialScanTop, DrugEffectScan, and DSRScan.
LocoScan
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LocoScan allows automated analysis of locomotor activity within a specified arena. The animal is placed in an arena which the user can divide into zones of any shape. LocoScan will track movement and output zone-specific statistics, including zone entry and exit, average speed, turning angle within each zone, length of stay in each zone, and other detailed measurements.
ObjectScan
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ObjectScan is designed for use with animal-object interaction tasks, such as novel object recognition. ObjectScan automatically detects and monitors object-directed sniffing behaviors based on the distance and orientation of the animal's head in relation to the object. Marking the head is not necessary. Arenas are pre-defined to include object position, and multiple arenas can be defined within one experiment.
MazeScan
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MazeScan automates the analysis of experiments using maze tasks. Because arenas are defined by the end-user, MazeScan allows analysis of all types of mazes, including elevated plus maze, zero maze, radial arm maze, and Y- or T- maze. In addition to detecting traditional parameters, such as number of entries into each arm/area and time spent in each arm/area, MazeScan is capable of detecting novel parameters such as stretch-attend postures (SAP), protected and unprotected SAP (p-SAP and u-SAP), head-dipping behavior, and partial incursions into a zone.
WaterMazeScan
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WaterMazeScan automates the analysis of the popular Morris water maze experiment. In addition to traditional parameters such as latency to platform and distance traveled, WaterMazeScan provides advanced measures such as heading error (orientation difference from platform direction), turning ratio (number of turns per body length traveled). Additionally, WaterMazeScan can detect and track the number of turns the animal performs in the water, which is integral to analysis of circling behaviors.