Regulation of core body temperature using virtual instrument technology.

This project involved designing, creating, and assembling a LabVIEW based temperature regulating device for mice, and other small animals. The device essentially consisted of a rectal thermistor probe reading temperature into a LabVIEW virtual Instrument which in turn employed an algorithm to proportionally control a solenoid valve. The valve was connected to a hot water bath on one side, and a heating plate on the other. The overall system promoted a critically damped temperature vs time response up to a set point temperature. The device, however, is highly adaptable, and can be manipulated to output a critically damped, or an underdamped response based on the required application