The research group of Associate Professor Shunsuke Shimamura of the Veterinary Clinical Center, Osaka Prefecture University, has used a wearable sensor jointly developed with Sharp Co., Ltd. to analyze the heart rate variability of dogs and to develop lifestyles such as walking and eating dogs. , Demonstrated the relevance of indicators of dog relaxation.

 It is known that autonomic nervous activity reflects the mental state and stress of dogs well, but no studies have investigated these in dogs living in a general home environment.Therefore, the research group of Osaka Prefecture University and Sharp Corporation has developed a wearable sensor that can measure the heartbeat of dogs.After that, in order to enable long-term observation at home, we made improvements to the wearable sensor, how the dog reacts to various events in daily life for 3 days, and what kind of emotional movement it is. I observed it.

 The owner recorded the dog's lifestyle and events such as walking and eating during the experiment, and used it as a reference for analysis.According to the analysis results, the autonomic nerve index becomes a low value indicating the state of excitement during events that bring excitement to the dog such as walking and eating, and the autonomic nerves during the time when the dog is resting during the night when the family sleeps or during the day when there is no event. The index tended to be high, indicating a relaxed state.In addition, as the rhythm of walking, eating, and sleeping was repeated throughout the two days, a rhythm was also seen in the fluctuations in the values ​​of the autonomic nervous index.

 In the future, the research group aims to sell wearable sensors for electrocardiographic measurement within a few years, establish patterns of autonomic nervous activity in dogs, and proceed with research and development as a tool for health management and early detection of diseases.

reference:[Osaka Prefecture University] A step forward in clarifying the feelings of dogs? !!Detecting changes in daily life and feelings of domestic dogs-Evaluating relaxation status from dog heart rate variability analysis- (PDF)

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