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Systems designed to produce contusions (e.g., on brain or spine) in laboratory research animals (e.g., rats and mice) to allow researchers to evaluate the process of injury to anatomical structures. These devices usually consist of some type of contusion-producing standard force pointed impactor positioned above a platform containing restraints to hold an anesthetized animal in position, and an electric control cabinet to precisely regulate the forces applied (impact velocity, depth and dwell time). Some impactors also have an integral stereotactic positioning system for the animal so that lesions may be precisely reproduced in more than one animal or more than one time.
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