Episodic Intake Monitor
ep·i·sod·ic - occurring at irregular intervals, initiated by the animal's native behavior.

The BioDAQ Food and Water Intake Monitor was conceived and
designed as a tool to measure the episodic intake behavior of mice and rats. Episodic measurement allows the study of intake behavior in the context of the animal's undisturbed feeding and drinking activity.

Like No Other

Other commercially available intake monitors report data
periodically. In other words, these systems report changes in the
weight over a fixed interval of time, but give no data as to how the
food or water was consumed. The instruments are only able to
report intake in the context of fixed time points rather than in a way that includes the behavioral component of the animal’s intake
activity.

Measures Bouts

BioDAQ incorporates the behavioral component of intake activity.
The BioDAQ system reports food and water intake data as bouts,
the smallest unit of episodic intake. The data stream associated
with each bout includes a time and date stamp marking the
initiation of intake activity, the period of the activity, and the weight of food or water consumed. The period of a bout is variable and is
defined by the animal’s activity. This new way of recording intake
data allows researchers to study food and water intake in the
context of the animal's behavior.

Monitor Up to 32 Modules

BioDAQ will monitor up to 32 modules at one time. The system is expandable from a minimum of 8 modules to 32 with one Central Controller and laptop computer. For example, you can run 16 animals with food and water modules or 32 animals with food alone. Larger systems can be accommodated with additional Central Controllers and laptops.