The LT unit is similar in functionality to the AD unit, but double the size, and is suitable to measure the behaviour of rodents and larger fish, such as guppies.
Benefits
All the Zantiks units are built along the same principles, enabling high throughput and easy-to-run experiments. The benefits of choosing Zantiks include:
- An isolated and stable testing environment
- Networked and controlled via a web browser
- Live video view and real-time video recording
- Includes software, uses the Zanscript language for experiment specification
- Real-time results processing and output in .csv format
- Integrated camera, computer, experimental chamber and built-in stimuli
- Takes up little bench space
- Only requires 12V power and a network connection
Target studies
The Zantiks LT is suitable for:
- Tracking rodents / fish in experimental environments
- open field, Y-maze, conditioned place preference.
- Training rodents and fish with food reward in operant tasks
- discrimination, 5-choice, match to sample
- Tracking multiple animals singly-housed in individual arenas.
Zantiks LT kit
Overall unit size (external, approx. mm): 560 width, 410 depth, 870 height
Cage size for rodents (internal, mm): 360 width, 270 depth, 300 height
Tank sizes for aquatic (internal, mm) to maximum of: 360 width, 270 depth, 300 height
Technical specification
| Integrated unit | Built-in stimuli | |
| computer | lights (overhead) | |
| software | solid, liquid delivery (motor) | |
| camera | visual images (floor / lateral screen) | |
| experimental chamber |
Experimental chamber inserts
| Rodents | Fish | |
| Food hopper | Arena tanks | |
| 5-aperture insert | Dividing inserts | |
| Y-maze | light/dark inserts | |
| Y-maze |
Built-in stimuli
- Overhead illumination – colour, brightness and duration can be specified with ms accuracy.
- Can be used for ambient lighting, circadian rhythm entrainment and light flashes.
- Solid and liquid delivery - both solid and liquid food reward, as well as chemical liquid stimuli can be automated
- Visual stimuli from built in screen - presented from a screen from underneath the tank. These can be specified with sizes, shapes, colours, locations and bitmaps.
- As they are displayed via a screen, response times and update times can be controlled up to the 60Hz refresh rate of the display.
Included equipment
- Tanks / cages: The LT can accommodate many different sized tanks.
- The largest tank / cage that can fill the experimental chamber measures 270 mm x 360 mm x 300 mm (W x L x H).
- A maximum of four narrow tanks fit in the experimental chamber, these have opaque ends and clear sides and bottom; they measure 75 mm x 360 mm x 300 mm (W x L x H).
- The standard AD tank (which fills the AD experimental chamber) can be used in the LT chamber. The photo below helps demonstrate the relatively different sized tanks (and chambers) between the AD and LT units.
- Opaque side inserts - To prevent singly-housed animals from seeing the animal/s in adjacent tanks, opaque side inserts that slot on to the outside of the tank walls using tabs are used.
Add-on equipment
- Side screen - An extra side screen can be bought as an add-on to the LT unit, which allows for lateral presentation of images against the back wall of the unit. The side screen plugs in to the unit and is operated in the same way as the screen underneath / over the tank. Only one screen can be used at a time.
A demo script demonstrating how the side screen works can be found on the Side screen demo page.
How to operate
Fully networked, Zantiks units are supplied with a router and controlled via a web browser, allowing users to operate them from their own phone, tablet, laptop, PC, Mac or Chromebook.
From the web browser on your device you can edit scripts, start and stop chosen services, view live video, download results (.csv files).
To operate a Zantiks unit connect to the same network as the unit. To open the Zantiks Control Console, enter the unit's IP address in the browser (this is displayed on the LT's screen when booted up). From this home page you can operate all your networked units.
For details on how to use the Zantiks Control Console, see the Zantiks Control Console manual.
High-throughput studies are easy to conduct with multiple units. All units are operated via the same web browser and can run identical experiments consecutively.
Tracking and video recording
The LT unit can track multiple animals that are housed singly in different arenas.
The scripts can be written to track the locomotion, distance travelled and time spent in different zones. They can also be written to record activity, such as a mouse's nose poke in a zone.
An eight-week old mouse in a Y-maze. The overlays in the video show, firstly that the unit was tracking the mouse in one arena (with a blue overlay), and secondly that there were four detector zones set up in the Y-maze, so that the mouse's movement between the arms of the Y-maze could be recorded.
