Working principle: The system consists of three interconnected functional modules. The WMicrotracker One functional module has a built-in transistor (detection module) camera, compatible with 96 or 384 well plate detection, allowing for the capture of behavioral activities of small model organisms (zebrafish larvae, nematodes, mosquito larvae, small parasites) in liquid culture media; the WMicrotracker Arena functional module has a built-in CCD camera (detection module), compatible with 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 384 well plate detection, with temperature control functionality, allowing for the capture of behavioral activities of small model organisms (zebrafish larvae, nematodes, mosquito larvae) in liquid or ngm-type solid culture media; the WMicrotracker Smart8 functional module has a built-in CCD camera (detection module), compatible with up to 8 35mm culture dishes, allowing for the capture of behavioral activities of small model organisms (zebrafish larvae, nematodes, mosquito larvae) in ngm-type solid culture media.

Experimental process: Using the WMicrotracker One functional module for large-scale (384 or 96 well plates) rapid screening of small model organisms, obtaining samples of interest to be placed in the temperature-controlled WMicrotracker Arena functional module for cultivation over several hours to days, followed by screening, and finally transferring to the WMicrotracker Smart8 functional module for drug treatment. The 35mm culture dish provides a sufficiently large behavioral activity space, and the imaging system collects behavioral activity metrics before and after drug treatment (capable of automatically quantifying the behavioral activities of nematodes, parasites, and zebrafish larvae, such as omega bending, coiling, self-overlapping, swimming, and flapping. It effectively studies subtle effects on social interactions, such as aggregation, social foraging, and mating), and finally analyzed by WMicrotracker software to obtain parameter metrics (such as the number of movements or activities of nematodes, the distance length of nematode activity or movement, the duration of nematode activity or movement, lifespan detection, fertility analysis, body length and development analysis, feeding ability, locomotion ability, antioxidant capacity, heat sensitivity, infection resistance, which can be used for compound screening, RNAi/morpholine tests, transgenic tests, long-cycle tests, or custom experiments; toxicity tests, paralysis tests, metabolic tests, disease models, synaptic regulators, stress resistance, health span (aging), chemotaxis, egg hatching).

The system is capable of operating in two different modes: 1) Infrared imaging, inverted plate: This arrangement allows for tracking the paths of multiple adult nematodes (or similarly sized worms) using ngm-type solid culture media. This method is based on the optical phenomenon of infrared refraction amplifying the profile. Infrared light waves refract at the worm-agar interface, producing an enlarged image that will be captured by a sensitive optical/high-definition camera system. The digital processing of the images is performed using software specifically designed for real-time data acquisition. 2) Infrared microbeam grid, upright plate: Allows for the quantification of the behavior of various organisms with sizes >0.1m using solid, liquid, or air cultures. It also allows for the definition of the activity area used in chemotaxis experiments within the plate. This patented method is based on detecting movement through light scattering caused by the infrared microbeam grid.

Our company is the agent for Phylumtech products in China, with authorized agency qualifications. The Argentine company Phylumtech has a total of 4 product models: Wmicrotracker® ARENA, Wmicrotracker® ONE, Wmicrotracker® MINI, WMicrotracker® SMART.