Individually Customisable, Non-Invasive Head Immobilisation for Primates with the Option for Voluntary Engagement

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Many neuroscientific laboratories that require head immobilisation in animal procedures use surgically implanted head posts. By contrast, nearly all head immobilisation procedures with humans rely on non-invasive head restraint techniques. Some attempts have been made over the years to develop non-invasive head restraints for, in particular, work with awake and behaving nonhuman primates, but these systems have had little impact in replacing the surgically implanted head posts. We have identified several reasons why the previous systems may not have been broadly accepted. Some of the issues are that the current systems, 1) are of the 'one size fits all' approach and thus will not work with animals of different sizes or those of different species, 2) often prevent access for eye tracking and sound or visual stimulation that many laboratories require during head immobilisation, 3) cause distress when being used, 4) create pressure points that can become infected or do not sufficiently immobilise the head, and 5) to our knowledge, there do not seem to be options where the animals can be trained to voluntarily engage a head immobilisation system for shorter period of restraint. Thus many laboratories continue to rely on what they are used to: surgically implanted head post options. We propose a customised head immobilisation system and an approach in this proposal that aims to address all of these issues. Our approach is based on non-invasive head restraints that are being used daily in hospitals across the U.K. for adult and child cancer patients. For instance if a person is diagnosed with head or neck cancer this might require urgent radiotherapy treatment. This treatment depends on a precise, customised head immobilisation system so that head movement can be minimised during high-energy radiotherapy that targets cancerous cells while minimising neighbouring tissue damage. Thereby, cancer radiotherapy units have become experts at providing individually customised, non-invasive head immobilisation options for patients of many sizes. For this project we have established a collaboration with the Cancer Radiotherapy Unit at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. Out of the approaches that they routinely use with humans we have identified one that has the potential to overcome the limitations of previous head restrain approaches in nonhuman primates. We aim to develop and test this system in several primates of different sizes (and in two different species). We will evaluate the effectiveness of the system and the quality of the data that can be obtained using common neuroscientific procedures and will engage a commercial partner to help us to broadly market and distribute the systems. In particular, we aim to develop highly customisable helmets and a novel approach where the animals will be trained to engage a face mask system for shorter periods of immobilisation. In these ways, the project provides considerable opportunity for innovation to help to reduce the reliance on invasive approaches. In particular for animals participating in non-invasive procedures, such as brain imaging or infra-red eye tracking techniques that are commonly in use with humans, a non-invasive head immobilisation system has the opportunity to make these approaches 100% non-invasive.