1 RatCAP Mounting and Stress D. Schlyer, C. Woody, P. Vaska, S. Stoll, M. Lenz, B. Lenz, Brookhaven National Laboratory I. Rampil, C. Page Stony Brook University

2 RatCAP Animal Stress Stress testing is in progress at SUNY Stony Brook Testing the time to acclimate the animals to the detector ring

3 RatCAP Mounting Calvarium The bolt socket will be cemented directly to the rat’s skull using bone cement Cement applied The inner ring of the tomograph is attached through a countersunk hole in the ring

4 Hardware Top to Bottom n Head Mount and Locking Screw n Height Spacers n Inner Support Rings n PET scan assembly

5 Head Mount with Support Ring Free Hanging PET Ring Mounting of RatCAP to the Rat Mark II

6 Head Mount Bonded with Bone Cement to Calvarium Over Lamboid Suture Animal anesthetized for attachment Shows baseline behavior within hours of emergence

7 Inner Support Ring Secured in place with locking screw allowing removal between trials Animal acclimated to ring over the the course of several days.

8 Complete Assembly Supports free range of motion with no scanner movement relative to the animal’s head

9 Summary n This method of attachment allows the rat to become acclimated to wearing the ring and therefore the stress is reduced n The comparison testing of stress levels in the rat at baseline without wearing the tomograph and then again with the tomograph in place is underway