7280 Ugo Basile Hot Plate

The Ugo Basile 7280 Hot Plate has been designed to perform rapid precise screening of narcotic type analgesic drugs (morphine, codeine, etc.) on the animal by the hot plate test.

This method, devised by N.B. Eddy and D. Leimbach evaluates the reaction time of mice which are dropped on a heated surface and thus confronted with a heat stimulus applied to the plantar surface. When a central analgesic is administered to the animals this reaction time is markedly increased.

The Hot Plate 7280 is a microprocessor controlled unit, providing:
• Evaluation of reaction time in steps of one tenth of a second.
• Data monitoring and experiment setting on the original angled command module / display unit whose panel can be oriented for a comfortable reading.
• Direct connect to the PC, and to the optional Mini-Printer Catalog number 7145, in order to print the obtained data.

The heating plate is cut from a 4 mm thick “electrolytic” copper sheet and is mated to high surface heating elements which provide even temperature to the entire test area. A solid state temperature regulator senses the plate temperature via a digital thermometer and powers the heating elements through a proportional circuit which minimizes overshoot. The temperature of the plate is set by the operator in the range 30-60°C via “soft keys”.

The back panel embodies, from left to right, a 3-pin circular connector for the pedal switch, a 20-PIN connector for branching to the 7145 Mini-printer, a Delta 9-pin Connector (labeled TO PC RS232C) for branching the Hot Plate to the PC and the Power Module.

This Module of original design is located on the right side of the Hot Plate top panel, and comprises a graphic display and a command keyboard. The multifunction liquid-crystal graphic-display monitors the temperature in 0.1°C steps and shows the reaction time in 0.1 s increments, both sets of figures in large highly readable format. Moreover, the graphic display presents all available commands: the operator sets the experiment configuration via the commands keyboard located below the display. The module can be oriented to obtain a better view of the display.