Use of Wireless Rumen Sensors in Ruminant Nutrition Research

摘要

This study discusses future trend and advantages of wireless rumen sensor (bolus) technology in ruminant nutrition research and obstacles that prevent their fast adoption. Wireless rumen sensors used in animal management and enrolment procedures but the technology is still at its early development stage in ruminant nutrition research. Rumen sensors provide an excellent and affordable option for continually measuring in vivo pH, temperature and pressure and offer scientists the ability to discover newinsights into nutritional research, animal health and behavior, animal welfare, estrus, motility and morbidity dynamics, animal emissions, activity and digestion etc. under different ruminal conditions. This technology is easy to use, user-configurableand adaptable to most research programmes. Data is received and interpreted by the proprietary software via cable connection, wireless connection, bluetooth or manual download from memory card. New developments enable to obtain complete, comprehensive and accurate data sets from the rumen of animals at anytime, whether they are in free stalls, open paddocks or out on the range. The technology has a very good application for ruminant research, especially in rumen fistulated cattle and sheep. In some studies pH readings from boluses to that of a hand-held pH meter and found that there was a high degree of agreement between the two techniques. On the contrary, in other studies resulted in a minor level of agreement between the two methods. In conclusion,these boluses need further advancement to be potentially used for continuous rumen pH measurements for research purposes. It is expected that the rumen sensors can be measure rumen volatile fatty acids and greenhouse gases as CH_4, CO_2, NH_3 in the future. Therefore, animal nutrition studies can be commented more easily and also the most suitable feeding programme can be practiced.