Patent ID: 6996429

Claim:
An automated flinch-detection apparatus for measuring spatial displacement of an animal's paw injected with irritant, comprising: an electromagnetic detecting assembly having a transmitting oscillator for generating electrical current; an electromagnetic transmitter coil coupled to the oscillator for generating an electromagnetic field; an electromagnetic receiving coil placed in a linear plane directly below the transmitter coil; a first, receiving amplifier connected to the receiving coil; an amplitude detector connected to the receiving amplifier; a second amplifier connected to the amplitude detector; a metal object adapted to be attached to the animal's paw; and a cylindrical observation chamber of a diameter not greater than the diameter of the generated magnetic field, said chamber placed directly over the receiving/transmitting coil assembly, wherein the current generated by the transmitting oscillator circulates in the transmitter coil, creating an electromagnetic field that penetrates the metal object, creating eddy currents perturbing the electromagnetic field, said fluctuating perturbations being picked up by the receiving coil, amplified by the receiving amplifier, detected by the amplitude detector and further amplified, filtered and digitized to produce a measured spatial displacement of the animal's paw injected with the irritant.