# Development of Wireless Equipment for Autonomous Rodent Infusion Tasks

> **NIH NIH R21** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $210,977

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Despite major advances in both the preclinical and clinical addiction fields, the number of US citizens afflicted
by substance use disorders (SUDs) and the lethal overdose outcomes has continuously increased over the past
two decades. To tackle this alarming health issue, translational rodent models are needed to uncover the neural
circuits and the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of SUDs. In
this regard, intravenous self-administration procedures is the gold standard for rodent SUD models. However,
despite being one of the most reliable procedures, with clear face validity, this procedure is still limited by its
tethered nature, constraining its use to restricted spaces in which rodents are exposed to unenriched
environments with limited or no access food, water, or social interaction. The setting or environment is a critical
component of SUD. In rodent models, evidence has shown that availability for volitional social interaction and
non-social rewards such as wheel running, and operant-delivered palatable foods can decrease the
consumption, the escalation, and the reinstatement in drug self-administration. Here we propose to use our
complementary expertise in wireless technology, device development, and rodent models of drug abuse liability
to establish wirelessly controlled intravenous self-administration experiments in complex and more ethologically-
relevant environments such as enriched laboratory homecages. While wireless drug administration devices have
previously been developed, they only allow for small volume and restricted number of controlled infusions.
Intravenous self-administration procedures are generally composed of long-term daily session during which
multiple controlled drug intakes and thus larger drug volumes are necessary to assess drug abuse liability. To
tackle this limitation and permit the assessment of drug abuse liability in enriched laboratory home cages we
propose to 1) develop a wireless-controlled wearable drug reservoir connected to intravenous indwelling catheter
and 2) use Bluetooth mesh technology to enable homecage-based intravenous self-administration procedures
using interactive connected devices. We envision that these new open-source approaches will broaden the
translational value of pre-clinical SUD models by enabling new experimental designs to improve current
strategies aiming at developing substance use disorders treatments.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10349123
- **Project number:** 1R21DA055047-01
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Nicolas Massaly
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $210,977
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-02-15 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10349123

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10349123, Development of Wireless Equipment for Autonomous Rodent Infusion Tasks (1R21DA055047-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10349123. Licensed CC0.

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