“The laboratory mice studied with instrumentation provided by Mouse Specifics accept the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and nominate all mice who dedicate their lives to ALS, you have 24 hours.”

“The laboratory mice studied with instrumentation provided by Mouse Specifics accept the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, and nominate all laboratory mice who dedicate their lives to ALS….”

Over the past several weeks, it has become routine for people of all ages to jump on social media sites to check the progress of the “Ice Bucket” phenomenon started by former Boston College baseball star, Pete Frates. From friends and family, to celebrities and athletes, no one has become shy to the challenge as thousands have poured iced water over their heads. Since The Ice Bucket Challenge’s creation in July, over $90 million has been raised to fund ALS research! Along with this flood of donations to the ALS Association has come a surge of support and awareness for this great cause that many knew little about. Pete and more than 25,000 people across the United States suffer from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord. It is the most common of the five motor neuron diseases leading to muscle weakness and atrophy throughout ones entire body, which will eventually develop into complete paralysis. New research is continuously being undertaken to comprehend the entirety of the disease; however no definitive finding has been made to uncover the true cause of ALS.
 
The only approved drug to fight this disease (riluzole) extends marginal benefits. With public awareness growing exponentially and a constant flow of donations from the “Ice Bucket Challenge”, promising research aimed at preventing and treating ALS is imminent. The donations are being put to good use by the ALS Association (ALSA), which provides high quality care to people currently diagnosed with ALS and funds research to find a cure – to “strike out” ALS.
 
Laboratory animals are a cornerstone to the advancement of healthcare through the collection and study of preclinical data that are directly translatable to humans. The DigiGait Imaging System, for example, developed by Mouse Specifics, Inc. [with the help of ALSA seed financing], is a widely published ventral plane videography instrument used to study the gait of laboratory animals. Since many movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and ALS profoundly affect the ability and characteristics of walking, it is hugely advantageous to study the gait of animal models of the human diseases.
 
DigiGait performs gait analysis of subjects over a range of walking and running speeds, whether they walk voluntarily, or run on the patented motorized transparent treadmill belt. Machine vision continuously images the underside of the animals, generating “digital paw prints” and dynamic gait signals. These dynamic gait signals, generated for each of the four limbs, describe the posture and kinematics of the animals that reflect strength, balance, and coordination. Animals can also be challenged to walk up an incline or down a decline to maximize the details about their motor abilities and identify early or subtle defects. DigiGait is currently the best instrumentation available for early detection of subtle motor dysfunction in ALS mice.
 
Mouse Specifics, Inc. (MSI) has long been interested in ALS research, having received funds from the ALS Association for DigiGait and the study of ALS mouse models, with the aim of early detection of gait disturbances. Several publications have report new findings about ALS. These include: motorneuron hyperexcitability effecting a paradoxical supranormal gait prior to paralysis; earliest motor dysfunction occurs when animals are challenged to walk fast up an incline; benefits of experimental therapeutics on walking ability. The Mouse Specifics biomedical engineering team is continuously dedicated to ensuring that the DigiGait instrumentation is the most accurate and sensitive gait analysis tool available for the study of motor function in ALS mice.
 
MSI will provide a 15% discount on the DigiGait Imaging System to laboratories with a published track record in ALS research. Also, the company will donate $500 to ALSA in the name of each principal investigator who incorporates DigiGait into their basic research and preclinical studies. Our hope is to not only continue to play a part in ALS research, but also to encourage top level pre-clinical research via this admirable challenge.

Over the past couple of weeks, it has become routine for people of all ages to jump on social media sites to check the progress of the “Ice Bucket” phenomenon started by former Boston College baseball star, Pete Frates.  From friends and family, to celebrities and athletes, no one has become shy to the challenge as thousands have poured iced water over their heads. Since The Ice Bucket Challenges creation in July, over $90 million to fund ALS research!  Along with this flood of donations to the ALS Association along has come surge of support and awareness for this great cause that many knew little about (read about how it all began here).  Pete and more than 25,000 people across the United States suffer from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord. It is the most common of the five motor neuron diseases leading to muscle weakness and atrophy throughout ones entire body, which will eventually develop into complete paralysis.  New research is continuously being undertaken to comprehend the entirety of the disease; however no definitive finding has been made to uncover the true cause of ALS.  
 
The only approved drug to fight this disease (riluzole) extends marginal benefits. With public awareness growing exponentially and a constant flow of donations from the “Ice Bucket Challenge”, promising research aimed at preventing and treating ALS is imminent. The donations are being put to good use by the ALS Association (ALSA) by providing high quality care to people currently diagnosed with ALS as well as progressing the potential “striking out” of ALS through finding its cure (make your own donation here!).

Laboratory animals are the cornerstone to the advancement of healthcare through the collection of preclinical data that are directly translatable to humans.  The DigiGait Imaging System, for example, developed by Mouse Specifics, Inc. [with the help of ALSA seed financing], is a widely published ventral plane videography instrument used to study the gait of laboratory animals.  Since many movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and ALS profoundly affect the ability and characteristics of walking, it is hugely advantageous to study the gait of animal models of the human diseases.   DigiGait performs gait analysis of subjects over a range of walking and running speeds, whether they walk voluntarily, or run on the patented motorized transparent treadmill belt.  Machine vision continuously images the underside of the animals, generating “digital paw prints” and dynamic gait signals.  These dynamic gait signals, generated for each of the four limbs, describe the posture and kinematics of the animals that reflect strength, balance, and coordination.
 
Animals can also be challenged to walk up an incline or down a decline to maximize the details about their motor abilities and identify early or subtle defects.  DigiGait is currently the best instrumentation available for early detection of subtle motor dysfunction in ALS mice. Its ability to be the most translatable motor rater assay, as well as its value in describing fine motor skill, is increasing the demand for DigiGait in preclinical studies of neurodegenerative diseases.

Mouse Specifics, Inc. (MSI) has long been interested in ALS research, having received funds from the ALS Association for DigiGait and the study of ALS mouse models, with the aim of early detection of gait disturbances.  Several publications have report new findings about ALS.  These include:  motorneuron hyperexcitability effecting a paradoxical supranormal gait prior to paralysis;  earliest motor dysfunction occurs when animals are challenged to walk fast up an incline;  benefits of experimental therapeutics on walking ability.  The Mouse Specifics biomedical engineering team is continuously dedicated to ensuring  that the DigiGait instrumentation is the most accurate and sensitive gait analysis tool available for the study of motor function in ALS mice.
 
We are extending a 15% discount on the DigiGait Imaging System to laboratories with a published track record in ALS research. Also, we will donate $500 to ALSA in the name of each principal investigator who incorporates DigiGait into their basic research and preclinical studies. Our hope is to not only continue to play a part in ALS research, but also to encourage top level pre-clinical research via this admirable challenge.