A New Method for Heart Rate Recording in Chick Embryo

The chick embryo is a widely used experimental animal in developmental biology research. Heart rate (HR) is usually considered to be an important physiological index reflecting the embryos natural activity. The paper introduces in detail a new invasive method for heart rate recording. With wire electrodes implanted by drilling small holes in the eggs shell, signals are amplified and digitised using an A/D converter. The heart rate (HR) could be measured under normal physiological conditions, and thus the normal embryonic development is not significantly affected by the recording procedure. In addition, the signals are large in amplitude and easy to manipulate.