CatWalk XT has been used for gait analysis in multiple studies and has helped experimental procedures for a number of neurological disorders and in lesion models.
CatWalk XT has been used for gait analysis in multiple studies and has helped experimental procedures for a number of neurological disorders and in lesion models. The great benefit of this gait analysis system is that it lets mice walk freely without being forced. With the Illuminated Footprint Technology and a high-speed camera this system gives you an accurate and automated analysis of the locomotor ability of your rodents.
Researchers from the University of Bochum recently achieved a major break-through in their search for a potential therapeutic approach for spinal cord injury (SCI). Spinal cord injury is damage of the spinal cord that often occurs after traumatic incidents like a car accident, a fall from great height or from a non-traumatic disease, such as tuberculosis.
In their study, the researchers discovered that a protein called hyper-interleukin-6 (hIL-6) stimulates signaling and axonal regeneration in a deeper brain area that is difficult to reach. These deeper brain areas are important for movement processes, such as walking and running. They injected the hIL-6 into the easily accessible sensorimotor cortex of the brain and observed the regeneration of neuros in a deeper level of the brain. The axonal regeneration in this level is essential for functional recovery after spinal cord injury. With the hIL-6 injected, paralyzed animals started to walk again after two to three weeks!
To evaluate this, the researchers used CatWalk XT for gait analysis of functional recovery after spinal cord injury. The CatWalk XT captures the actual footprints of the subjects and is therefore the ideal tool to get accurate results of each paw touching the glass, the total area touching the glass, stride length, base of support and regularity which are also the parameters that the researchers looked at in this study.
Curious to know more about this study? Click here to read more.
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At LBI Trauma, CatWalk XT is one of the most important tools to evaluate functional recovery in different animal models. Read more about what they found to be key factors when studying motor performance in rats with femoral nerve injury.
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Researchers use different ways to analyze gait in animals. In what instances would a study benefit from a system that is based on voluntary walking?
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I have written two blog posts about static gait parameters. Now it’s time to talk about all four paws, and the time based relationships between them. If you ask me, we’ve been saving the best blog post for last!
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