WO2019020853A1 - Tag and grid for identifying and tracking animals, and animal identification and tracking system - Google Patents

Abstract

A tag for identifying and tracking animals fitted with a digital implant comprises: an active antenna designed for emitting an RF signal and for receiving RF signals from the digital implants in response to the RF signal emitted by the antenna; communication means designed for transmitting to a remote digital terminal the RF signals from the digital implant received by the antenna; and means for joining the tags the ones next to the others. An animal identification and tracking grid comprises at least two tags. An animal identification and tracking system comprises: a digital implant designed for being placed in an animal, receiving RF signals and emitting RF signals in response to an RF signal received; a tag and/or a grid according to the invention; and a remote digital terminal designed for receiving RF signals.

Description

 Tile and mesh for the identification and monitoring of animals and animal identification and tracking system

Field of the art The present invention refers to a tile and a mesh for the identification and tracking of animals, as well as to a system for identification and monitoring of animals.

Consequently, the field of application of the present invention is within the field of identification and monitoring of animals and, more specifically, of animal experimentation.

In this sense, it has to be pointed out that animal experimentation is a frequent practice in many scientific disciplines since, through model animals reared under controlled parameters, investigations are carried out on them from which a series is obtained. of results to extrapolate them to other species, including humans.

State of the Prior art

Following the comments in the previous paragraph, there are currently many scientific studies based on animal experimentation. In particular, the experimentation with animals consists mainly of analyzing the behavior of animals that move within a free controlled environment, said environment being adapted according to the needs of the experiment.

In order to study the behavior of animals in such an environment, there are two large groups of solutions. A first solution group would be represented by the solution disclosed in A. T. Schaefer and A. Claridge-Chang, "The surveillance state of behavioral automation," Current Opinion in Neurobiology, vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 170-176, which is based on having in that environment devices that react to the presence or actions of animals.

An alternative version to this solution would be the one disclosed in L. Lewejohann, AM Hoppmann, P. Kegel, M. Kritzler, A. Krüger, and N. Sachser, "Behavioral phenotyping of al murine model of Alzheimer's disease in a seminaturalistic environment using RFID tracking », Behavior Research Methods, vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 850-856, in which the experimental environment has devices that react to the presence or actions of animals and in which these interactions are recorded.

The second solution group would be represented by the solution disclosed in JS Zelek and D. Bullock, "Real-time automated concurrent visual tracking of many animáis and subsequent behavioral compilation", in Eighth IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision, 2001. ICCV 2001. Proceedings, 2001, vol. 2, pp. 751-751, in which the animals of the environment are monitored through their visualization and / or monitoring by means of high performance computers in terms of resolution, both spatial and temporal, requiring a direct and clear vision for this of the animals.

These groups of solutions present the main drawbacks that do not allow to simulate natural conditions that include burrows or underground shelters, since inside them they can not identify or monitor animals, nor can they identify animals individually when they are found. together in a very small space. It should be noted that, currently, in relation to the first group of solution and its alternative version, devices located in points of interest in the experimental environment that record the passage of animals through them through RFID technology are used. The drawback of this improved version is that the spatial resolution is several tens of centimeters which prevents it from being used with small experimental animals, such as small rodents.

Explanation of the invention

The main purpose of the present invention is to solve all the drawbacks mentioned above. In particular, the present invention allows to obtain a complete monitoring of a large number of animals in an experimental space built to measure by the researcher, eliminating blind spots derived from possible burrows or underground shelters. For this purpose, the tile for the identification and monitoring of animals according to the invention comprises at least one active antenna, communication means and means for the adjacent joining of tiles to each other.

The animals to be identified and followed must have a digital implant, which may be superficial or inserted under the skin of the animal, configured to receive RF signals and emit RF signals in response to an RF signal .

The active antenna is configured to emit an RF signal and to receive signals from the digital implants in response to the RF signal emitted by said antenna. The communication means are configured to transmit to a remote digital terminal the RF signals from the digital implant received by the antenna, said communication means preferably being an Ethernet connection.

The means for the adjacent bonding of tiles together, preferably, are of the type in which a tile comprises a flange with at least one hole and the adjacent tile that is to be joined to the first tile comprises a pin configured so that it can be enter and / or fix in the aforementioned hole.

Preferably, the RF signals emitted by the active antennas, the digital implants and the communication means are RFID signals and, more specifically, at the frequency of 13.56 MHz. Preferably, the tile according to the invention comprises 9 active antennas being compatible with RFID signals, as well as with the ISO-15693 standard.

In a preferred embodiment of the tile according to the invention, said tile may further comprise a multiple of three secondary inductor elements, preferably coils, resonant at the frequency of the RF signals per antenna. Preferably, the tile comprises 27 or 54 resonant secondary inductor elements at the frequency of 13.56 MHz.

In another preferred embodiment of the tile according to the invention, the active antennas can also comprise means for transmitting energy wirelessly, preferably by means of non-radioactive techniques such as RFID tags, which allow feeding the digital implants available to the animals. In this regard, it should be noted that, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, wireless energy transfer methods such as those disclosed in Uei-Ming Jow, P. may be used. McMenamin, M. Kiani, JR Manns, and M. Ghovanloo, "EnerCage: A Smart Experimental Arena with Scalable Architecture for Behavioral Experiment," IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 61, no 1, pp. 139-148, Jan. 2014.

Preferably, the active antennas may further comprise at least one digitally and analogically adjustable radiofrequency amplifier. More specifically, said radiofrequency amplifier is class E.

In another preferred embodiment of the tile according to the invention, said tile further comprises at least one central processing unit capable of controlling the active antennas. The object of the present invention is also a mesh for the identification and tracking of animals comprising at least two tiles according to the invention joined through their corresponding joining means.

It should be noted that the animals to be identified and followed must have a digital implant, which may be superficial or inserted under the skin of the animal, configured to receive RF signals and emit RF signals in response to an RF signal.

This mesh according to the invention allows combining as many tiles as necessary to cover the space on which the animals to identify and follow move. Consequently, this allows obtaining a complete experimental environment with the size and topology desired by the user. It is also object of the present invention, a system for the identification and monitoring of animals comprising at least one digital implant, a tile and / or mesh according to the invention and a remote digital terminal.

The digital implant is configured to be arranged in an animal, either superficially or inserted beneath the skin of the animal, and to receive RF signals and emit RF signals in response to a received RF signal.

The remote digital terminal is configured to receive the RF signals transmitted by the media of the tile and / or tiles of the mesh and to calculate, from the RF signals, the position of the implant.

In the identification system according to the invention, the digital implant and the active antennas of the tile and / or the mesh use the same communication protocol or compatible communication protocols. In a preferred embodiment of the identification system according to the invention in which the active antenna of the tile also comprises means for transmitting energy wirelessly and / or at least one active antenna of at least one tile of the mesh further comprises means of transmitting power wirelessly, the digital implant is configured to receive power wirelessly in such a way that at least part of its power supply comes from the energy transmitted wirelessly by the active antenna of the tile and / or the active antennas of the mesh.

In another preferred embodiment of the identification system according to the invention in which the active antenna of the tile also comprises means for transmitting energy wirelessly and a digitally and analogically adjustable radio frequency amplifier, and / or at least one active antenna of at least one tile of the mesh further comprises means for power transmission wirelessly and a digitally and analogically adjustable radio frequency amplifier, the digital implant is configured to receive power wirelessly in such a way that at least part of its power Energy is derived from the energy transmitted wirelessly by the active antenna and / or by the tile amplifier, and / or by the active antennas and / or by the amplifiers of the tiles of the mesh.

Preferably, the RF signals received and emitted by the digital implant and the RF signals received and emitted by the active antennas of the tile or mesh are RFID signals. Accordingly, the present invention, in addition to the applications and advantages mentioned so far, also allows:

Locate and identify animals with digital implants in the experimental environment with a resolution of up to 5 centimeters, and can be used with small rodents;

 - Locate a large number of animals with the total scanning time as the only limit;

 Record information about the animal through the digital implants of the animal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other advantages and features will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, which should be considered by way of illustration and not limitation, in which: Fig. 1 represents a schematic view of a tile for the identification and tracking of animals according to the invention with rectangular shape;

 Fig. 2 shows a schematic view of a tile for the identification and monitoring of animals according to the invention with hexagonal shape;

 - fig. 3 illustrates a schematic view of a mesh for the identification and monitoring of animals according to the invention;

 Fig. 4 represents a schematic view of part of the animal identification and tracking system according to the invention. Detailed description of an embodiment

In Figs. 1 and 2 is a schematic view of a tile (1) for the identification and monitoring of animals according to the invention comprising at least one active antenna (2), communication means (3) and means for joining (4) adjacent tile each other. The only difference between both tiles (1) is in the form thereof since in Fig. 1 the tile (1) is rectangular and in Fig. 2 the tile (1) is hexagonal. It should be noted that the tiles (1) can be of any shape.

The animals to be identified and followed must have a digital implant, which can be superficial or inserted under the skin of the animal, configured to receive RFID signals at a specific frequency and emit RFID signals to a frequency determined in response to an RFID signal.

The tile (1) comprises 9 active antennas (2) configured to emit an RFID signal at a frequency of 13.56 MHz and to receive RFID signals at a certain frequency, preferably at 13.56 MHz, from the digital implants in response to the RFID signal emitted by said antenna (2).

The communication means (3) are configured to transmit to a remote digital terminal the RFID signals from the digital implant received by the antenna (2).

The means for the adjacent joining of tiles (4) to each other comprises a flange (5) with a hole (6) said hole (6) being configured to receive a pin comprising a flange of the adjacent tile.

In addition, the tile (1) according to the invention comprises three secondary resonant inductors (7) at the frequency of 13.56 MHz for each active antenna (2). The active antennas (2) comprise means for wirelessly transmitting energy, such as RFID tags and digitally and analogically adjustable radio frequency amplifiers, such as class E amplifiers up to 4 Watt digitally adjustable. The tile (1) according to the invention comprises a central processing unit (8) for controlling the active antennas (2).

Fig. 3 shows a schematic view of a mesh (9) for the identification and tracking of animals according to the invention comprising 46 tiles (1) joined together through their respective means for joining (4). Fig. 4 shows a schematic view of part of a system (10) for the identification and monitoring of animals according to the invention. The system (10) for the identification and monitoring of animals according to the invention comprises a digital implant configured to be arranged in an animal and to receive RF signals and emit RF signals in response to a received RF signal (said implant is not shown in FIG. 3), a mesh (9) and a remote digital terminal (12) configured to receive RF signals transmitted by the communication means (3) of the tiles (1) of the mesh (9) and to calculate, from said RF signals, the position of the implant.

In this preferred embodiment, the communication means (3) of the tiles (1) is an Ethernet connection. Preferably, the remote digital terminal (12) calculates the position of the implant through a triangulation algorithm together with a posterior interpolation algorithm that allows to correct sporadic errors in the RF signals received by the active antennas (2) of the tiles (1). ) of the mesh (9). Through these two algorithms a good spatial resolution of the implant is obtained since it is not linked only to the positions of the active antennas (2), neither a high number of active antennas (2) being required.

A person skilled in the art will be able to effect modifications and variations from the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

 Claims Tile for the identification and monitoring of animals that have at least one digital implant configured to receive RF signals and emit RF signals in response to a received RF signal, characterized in that said tile comprises at least  An active antenna configured to emit an RF signal, and to receive RF signals from the digital implants in response to the RF signal emitted by said antenna;  Means of communication configured to transmit to a remote digital terminal the RF signals from the digital implant received by the antenna; Y  Means for the adjacent bonding of tiles with each other. Tile for the identification and monitoring of animals according to the preceding claim which also comprises a multiple of three secondary inducing elements resonant at the frequency of the RF signals for each active antenna.  Tile for the identification and monitoring of animals according to any of the previous claims in which the active antenna also comprises means of transmitting power wirelessly.  Tile for the identification and monitoring of animals according to any of the preceding claims in which the active antenna also comprises at least one digitally and analogically adjustable radiofrequency amplifier. Tile for the identification and monitoring of animals according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising at least one central processing unit for controlling active antennas.  Mesh for the identification and monitoring of animals with at least one digital implant configured to receive RF signals and emit RF signals in response to a received RF signal, characterized in that said mesh comprises at least two tiles according to any of the preceding claims attached to through their corresponding means of union.  Animal identification and tracking system characterized because it comprises at least:  A digital implant configured to be arranged in an animal and to receive RF signals and emit RF signals in response to a received RF signal; A tile defined according to any of claims 1 to 5 and / or a defined mesh according to claim 6; A remote digital terminal configured to receive the RF signals transmitted by the media of the tile and / or tiles of the mesh and to calculate, from said RF signals, the position of the implant. in such a way that the digital implant and the active antennas of the tile and / or mesh use the same communication protocol or compatible communication protocols. 8. Animal identification and tracking system according to the preceding claim wherein when the tile is defined according to claim 3 and / or at least one tile of the mesh is defined according to claim 3, the digital implant is configured to receive energy in a wireless way in such a way that at least part of its energy supply comes from the energy transmitted wirelessly by the active antenna of the tile and / or the active antennas of the mesh.  9. Animal identification and tracking system according to the preceding claim, wherein when the tile is defined according to claim 4 when it depends on claim 3 and / or at least one tile of the mesh is defined according to claim 4 when this depends on claim 3, the digital implant is configured to receive energy wirelessly in such a way that at least part of its energy supply comes from the energy transmitted wirelessly by the active antenna and / or the amplifier of the tile, and / or by the active antennas and / or by the amplifiers of the mesh tiles. 10. Animal identification and tracking system according to any of claims 7 to 9 wherein the RF signals received and emitted by the digital implant and the RF signals received and emitted by the active antennas of the tile or mesh are RFID signals.