Functional and Efficiency Upgrades for the Carlson Cage Wash Facility

摘要： 芝加哥大学的动物研究项目在过去的几年里有了很大的发展 十年了。该大学通过翻新 动物设施，并将Varia纳入三座新的研究大楼。这些新的 研究大楼显著提高了研究和动物空间的质量 可在该大学使用。卡尔森动物研究中心是世界上最大的 校园中最重要的设施，因为它支持最多样化的生物医学 研究性研究。卡尔森提供了相当大比例的鼠标屏障外壳， 生物安全(ABSL2)住房和啮齿动物的程序空间。它还提供了非 这里是啮齿动物收容所，也是唯一能够收容大型动物物种的设施。卡尔森 设施对动物护理计划至关重要。已经完成了几次翻修 在卡尔森增加和改善住房和研究空间，在过去10年和 卡尔森设施再次准备扩大动物收容所的容量，以支持 大学新成立的神经科学研究所。笼式清洗作业的作用 然而，作为此次翻修的一部分，需要加以解决。我们建议解决这个问题 通过用更新的更高效的洗涤设备取代卡尔森笼子里的洗涤设备 机器。我们已经开始更换卡尔森洗衣机和 有了这项建议的资金，我们将取代现有的隧道清洗机。这两个 设备部件存在重大维修问题，降低了保持架的效率 洗涤操作。它们的更替将显著提高 设施，这将对我们提供高质量和 高效的动物护理。

Summary: The University of Chicago animal research program has grown considerably in the last 10 years. The University has kept up with the growing animal census by renovating animal facilities and incorporating vivaria into three new research buildings. These new research buildings have significantly improved the quality of research and animal space available at The University. The Carlson Animal Research Facility is the largest and most significant facility on campus in that it supports the most diverse biomedical research studies. Carlson provides a significant proportion of the mouse barrier housing, biosafety (ABSL2) housing, and procedural space for rodents. It also provides non- rodent housing and is the only facility able to house large animal species. The Carlson facility is critical to the animal care program. Several renovations have been completed in Carlson to add and improve housing and research space in the last 10 years and the Carlson Facility is again preparing to expand animal housing capacity to support the University's new Neurosciences Institute. The function of the cage wash operation however needs to be addressed as part of this renovation. We propose to address this by replacing the washing equipment in the Carlson cage wash with newer more efficient machines. We have already initiated the replacement of the Carlson rack washer and with the funding of this proposal we will replace the existing tunnel washer. These two pieces of equipment have major repair issues and decrease the efficiency of the cage wash operation. Their replacement will significantly improve the operational efficiency of the facility, which will have a significant impact on our ability to provide high quality and efficient animal care.