The Quietek™ is a carbon dioxide (CO₂) delivery system that has been specifically designed for use with laboratory mice and rats. It’s simple interface allows the user to focus on the task at hand rather than monitoring a flow meter and controlling carbon dioxide flow manually. Once the Quietek has been installed and set, a keylock feature prevents the settings from being modified. This ensures that euthanasia is performed humanely, ethically, consistently, and in keeping with your organization’s policies (which should include consulting the AVMA Guidelines for US institutions). A simple push of the “Start” button will begin the CO₂ flow, and when the appropriate time has elapsed, the flow stops – conserving carbon dioxide, money, and effort involved in reordering and changing tanks.

History

In 2013 the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) released the first set of euthanasia guidelines which dictated a specific CO₂ flow rate for laboratory rodents. In that publication, a flow rate proportional to the euthanasia chamber volume was suggested. Since not all users know the chamber volumes in use and calculation of the flow rate is based upon that number, an easy-to-use solution to ensure appropriate delivery of CO₂ was required.

An initial, immediate response to the new guidelines from many institutions was to install flow meters and draw lines on the gauges indicating the correct flow rate ranges to meet the recommended criteria for given chamber volumes. While this method does work, it is prone to misuse:

• Since several chamber sizes are often used in a facility, there can be multiple lines on the gauge which can potentially cause confusion.
• Since there is no automatic shut-off to the flow meter, carbon dioxide can be inadequately delivered: too much and gas is wasted – too little and the procedure can be incomplete.
• Since the original recommendations had a very slow fill, the flow rate could be adjusted to speed up the process – hopefully no one was doing this!
• Since a flow meter requires monitoring, users had to focus intently on the task of euthanasia rather than efficiently multitasking.

To overcome these possible issues, the Quietek was introduced as the first system designed specifically to help organizations meet the recommendations set forth by the AVMA.

In 2020, the AVMA released a new set of guidelines for the flow rate of CO₂ to laboratory rodents. The Quietek can be used to meet these recommendations as well.

Advantages

Compliant – The Quietek is programmed to operate only within flow rates allowed by the AVMA for a given cage or chamber volume. The cage or chamber volumes can be programmed by designated staff and then locked to prevent changes. This ensures that CO₂ is delivered ethically, consistently, and according to your organization’s policies every time.

Easy – Once the Quietek has been installed and set up, a simple push of the “Start” button begins the flow of CO₂. If the need arises, the run can be aborted by pressing the button a second time. Otherwise, the carbon dioxide flow will shut off automatically when a sufficient volume has been delivered to the cage / chamber. A countdown timer indicates how long it will be until the flow will be shut off.

Save money – While CO₂ is generally not that expensive, when the time and labor associated with ordering and changing tanks is added in, it can be. Since the Quietek is optimized to automatically shut off the flow after a sufficient amount of CO₂ has been delivered, annual use can be significantly reduced. Feedback from our Customers has praised the automatic shut off indicating significant reduction in cost and interruptions to the workflow due to valves left open by staff performing the task manually.

Humane – The euthanasia process should be monitored continuously to ensure a humane endpoint. Since the flow of carbon dioxide is automatic, this allows the user to focus on the animals rather than a timer.