Carlos Portela
Registered Patent
One of the most important works developed by me, with the support of USP's FMVZ Pathology department, was an equipment for permanence and behavioral investigation of animals, which was patented at INPI - National Institute of Intellectual Property (INPI). It is a device for observing various behaviors in situ, promoting comfort and well-being, as well as providing the expression of much of the natural repertoire of the behaviors of various animals, using little space. I had nameled this equipment with the suggestive name: Ratland. This invention resembles, in some respects, a building, where animals can move between the "apartments" and "floors". This project was developed with the initial purpose of providing both environmental enrichment and studying social stress among rodents with "asthma". On the other hand, besides allowing the investigation of the immune inflammatory response of dominant and submissive animals, ratland provided the observation and filming of several behavioral events, which seemed to occur spontaneously, as if the rodents were into their burrows at their natural habitat. Thus, with ratoland it was possible to record and analyze, in detail, the territorial competition, the hierarchy of both males and females, the creativity in the construction of building for their broodings, the development of the young and eld rats. Check here the official page where is the documentation of the registration of this patent.
Further details can be obtained from interviews to the USP Journal, and to USP Innovation Agency well as to the Santa Fé do Sul Regional Journal.
