MouseMApp: An application to monitor the welfare of mice

Assessing the welfare of mice used in research requires careful monitoring to ensure appropriate actions are taken to minimise pain or suffering, such as the implementation of humane endpoints. A number of welfare scoring systems have been developed, including the mouse grimace scale (MGS), a graded measure of changes in facial expression related to pain, and body condition scoring (BCS), which correlates a mouse's body condition to potential changes in its health. While these systems are non-invasive and reliable, they can be labour-intensive and require consistent training across facilities, so have not been widely adopted.

Sponsored by AstraZeneca, GSK, CRUK Manchester Institute and The Sainsbury Wellcome Centre the aim of the Mouse MApp Challenge is to develop an app that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to automatically detect changes in facial expression or body condition and monitor the welfare of mice. If successful, the app could improve and harmonise decisions regarding animal welfare and humane endpoints, reducing individual suffering in large numbers of mice used in scientific procedures.

Funding has been awarded to a team led by Dr Matthew Leach (Newcastle University), who will develop an app using the MGS and BCS to assess photographs or short video clips of mice.

Full details about this CRACK IT Challenge can be found on the Innovation Platform website.