Remote-controlled device for sampling arterial blood in unrestrained animals.

A device is described that allows remote-controlled sampling of arterial blood in unrestrained animals. An artery and a vein are dissected in local anesthesia and connected by a plastic catheter, the sampling catheter. The flow of arterial blood in this artificial shunt can be blocked by kinking the sampling catheter by a remote-controlled device. The blood thus trapped in the sampling catheter, of 0.45 ml volume is analyzed for PO2, PCO2, and pH using electrodes. The technique has been used in ducks and hens but can be applied to other vertebrate classes and to species of smaller body size.