Animal research AI technology reduces the need for laboratory mice in research

By using AI in the behavioral analysis of mice, biomedical research can significantly reduce the need for laboratory mice.

An innovative method developed by scientists at ETH Zurich uses artificial intelligence to analyze the behavior of laboratory mice more efficiently. This technology enables biomedical research to make do with fewer laboratory mice.

The method is based on the automated analysis of behavioral patterns using image recognition and AI. Mice are filmed and the video recordings are automatically analyzed, as announced by ETH Zurich in a press release on Thursday.

Traditionally, the analysis of animal behavior often required days of painstaking manual work. Although leading research laboratories around the world have switched to powerful automated systems in recent years, the amount of data remains a challenge.

ETH points out that the risk of misinterpretation increases as the amount of data grows and the need to detect subtle differences in behavior increases.

Results with fewer animals

The new ETH method makes it possible to obtain meaningful results even with a smaller number of animals and to identify subtle differences in the animals' behavior. This helps to reduce the number of test animals and improve the standardization of tests.

Using this method, the ETH team has already been able to determine how mice react to stress and certain drugs. They have also discovered that acute and chronic stress affect the behavior of mice differently.

SDA