EngineeringDesigns

Portable restraining device for large animals (Traviport)

Veterinary practitioners often examine/treat cattle and buffalo under field conditions where restraining of animals is a major problem. Under field conditions, the unavailability of a suitable device for restraining large animals results in improper restraining with the probability of injury to vets, para-vets, owners and animals, besides inadequate examination of the animal and wastage of time in controlling unruly animals. To meet out the above requirement a portable large animal restraining device for veterinary practitioners was designed and developed with the advantages of ease of assembly/disassembly, user-friendly, durable and lightweight, adjustable dimensions, and cost-effective. The device is useful for any person handling animals mainly bovines or similar sized animals, domesticated or wild, veterinary ambulatory, for examination/ treatment (Gynecological/ obstetrical/ surgical/ medicinal) cases, vaccination, tattooing, insurance, management and collection of biological samples, and several other purposes. Besides bovines, Mithun, yalk, bison, antelope, mule, donkeys, ponies and horses may also be restrained in the device. Useful for any person handling animals, domesticated or wild. Useful for veterinary ambulatory. Useful for examination, treatment (Gyn./Obs., Surgical, Medicinal and Management), collection of biological samples. Helpful in preventing injury to animal handlers and animals.

Feed block making machine

A very simple machine (Hand operated) for making UMMBs has been conceptualized and developed by ICAR-IVRI. The principle of class II lever has been used for multiplying human efforts. This machine is about 6 times more efficient than the crude manual method in vogue (i.e. using the wooden mould and pressing directly by labour’s own weight), for making UMMB. The machine has a robust frame with four legs and the main body made of rectangular Hallow MS pipes. The Die is made of heavy-duty 3mm MS Flat, where approximately 250x140x80mm size finished UMMBs are made having a compaction ratio of 3:1. A safety device in the form of helical spring has also been provided to control the degree of compactness, and also to safeguard Die plates from distortion due to possible extra force applied inadvertently beyond the due requirement. In order to mitigate the deficiency of nutrients in ruminant diets to greater extent for bringing improvements in the production and reproduction performance of ruminants, a complex of urea, cane molasses, minerals and vitamins in shape of blocks (Urea Molasses Mineral Blocks; UMMB) have been developed through the application of a novel cold process compacting technology. These UMMBs are prepared efficiently by Feed Block Making Machine. For preparing UMMB a compression force is required, which was produced by a simple class II lever arrangements, suitably used in this machine. The Die consists of two parts namely female Die i.e. Box and Male Die (Load Plate). The female box Die measuring 250x150x150mm is opened at the top side for material loading and has arrangements for opening/closing at the bottom side for compaction of the raw materials and discharge of finished UMMBs. The lever arm (1350mm long) is hinged at one end and effort is applied at the other extreme end. The load point has been kept 240mm away from the hinge end. The force is applied through male Die fitted (hinged) with lever arm at a distance of 240mm from the hinged end. The safety spring is located on the mainframe between the load point and effort point at a distance of 665mm from the hinged end. The position of the spring can be adjusted and thereby the degree of compactness of the finished product is regulated. The spring acts as an indicator for the application of optimum human efforts and also as a shock absorber. The raw material (2.5kg) is filled in the female Die box from the top open-end side while the bottom end is made closed with the help of heavy-duty replaceable bottom plate of the female Die. Now, this mixture is compressed with the help of male Die hinged in the lever arm by applying human efforts at the far end of the lever arm until it touches the safety spring. At this point the mixture is said to be compressed up to the desired degree and block is formed. Now the female Die is opened from the bottom by removing bottom plate, the lever arm is further pushed downward such that safety spring is also compressed slightly and prepared UMMB has pushed further downwards such that it comes out of the female Die Chamber and placed above the retainer plate kept further below. The prepared UMMB is removed from the machine for drying/conditioning, packing, labeling and marketing and the next cycle of operation commences again.

Fetal extractor

Dystocia is an emergency condition causing huge economic losses to the bovine industry due to details of either dam of fetus or both. It also impairs the future fertility of the affected dam. Relieve of dystocia is of primary concern for veterinarians and animal owners to save the life of both dam and fetus. “Fetal Extractor” developed by ICAR-IVRI is an obstetrical instrument suitably employed for relieving the dystocia by correcting defects and for forceful traction. The design of Fetal extractor has been developed by experienced scientists and engineers of IVRI for safe, easy handling and removal of the fetus in case of difficult birth/Dystocia of Cow and Buffalo under farm and field conditions.

Interlocking nail for repair of fracture in bovine tibia

Management of long bone fractures in large animals is always a challenge, especially tibial fractures, due to heavyweight and angular placement of bone. Commonly available internal fixation implants in the market are developed for human use, which are not adequate for fixation in large bovines. Interlocking nailing is one of the advanced internal fixation techniques with several mechanical advantages; however, the interlocking nail designed specifically for tibia of large ruminants (cattle and buffaloes) is not available for ready clinical use.

Interlocking nail with locking bolts developed at IVRI was found effective for the treatment of tibial fractures in both in vitro and in vivo studies. This nail may be useful to treat comminuted tibial fractures, which are otherwise difficult to treat by conventional techniques. The interlocking nail may have large market potential, as it may be used in routine large animal clinical practice by veterinary surgeons in different veterinary colleges, polyclinics and by private practitioners across the country and neighbouring countries.

Designer Locking plate for repair of fracture in bovine tibia

Management of long bone fractures in large animals is always a challenge, especially tibial fractures, due to heavyweight and angular placement of bone. Commonly available internal fixation implants in the market are developed for human use, which are not adequate for fixation in large bovines. Locking Compression Plate is one of the advanced internal fixation techniques with several mechanical advantages; however, the locking plate designed specifically for tibia of large ruminants (cattle and buffaloes) is not available for ready clinical use. Designer locking plate developed at IVRI is unique in that it is well contoured to the bovine tibia, has two complete rows of screw holes (both locking and non-locking) in different planes giving double plate effect. It was also tested for in vitro mechanical properties and in vivo clinical application. The designer locking plate may have large market potential as no such device is available for large animal use; once made available a large number of veterinary surgeons from different veterinary colleges, polyclinics and private veterinary practitioners may use the plate in routine large animal clinical practice to treat complex tibial fractures which are otherwise difficult to treat.

Designer Locking plate for repair of fracture in bovine radius

Management of long bone fractures in large animals is always a challenge due to the heavyweight of the animal and the need for immediate weight-bearing on the limb. Commonly available internal fixation implants in the market are developed for human use, which are not adequate for fixation in large bovines. Locking Compression Plate is one of the advanced internal fixation techniques with several mechanical advantages; however, the locking plate designed specifically for the radius of large ruminants (cattle and buffaloes) is not available for ready clinical use. The designer locking plate developed at IVRI is unique in that it is well contoured to the bovine radius, has two rows of screw holes (both locking and non-locking) in different planes giving double plate effect. It was also tested for in vitro mechanical properties and in vivo clinical application. The designer locking plate may have large market potential as no such device is available for large animal use; once made available a large number of veterinary surgeons from different veterinary colleges, polyclinics and private veterinary practitioners may use the plate in routine large animal clinical practice to treat complex fractures of radius-ulna which are otherwise difficult to treat.

Designer Locking plate for repair of fracture in bovine femur

Management of long bone fractures in large animals is always difficult, especially more proximal bones such as femur; as external fixation does not provide stable fixation and internal fixation is difficult due to heavy muscular coverage around the bone. Commonly available internal fixation implants in the market are developed for human use, which are not adequate for fixation in large bovines. Locking Compression Plate is one of the advanced internal fixation techniques with several mechanical advantages; however, the locking plate designed specifically for femur bone of large ruminants (cattle and buffaloes) is not available for ready clinical use. The designer locking plate developed at IVRI is unique in that it is well contoured to the bovine femur, has two rows of screw holes (both locking and non-locking) in different planes giving double plate effect. It was also tested for in vitro mechanical properties and in vivo clinical application. The designer locking plate may have large market potential as no such device is available for large animal use; once made available a large number of veterinary surgeons from different veterinary colleges, polyclinics and private veterinary practitioners may use the plate in routine large animal clinical practice to treat complex fractures of femur which are otherwise difficult to treat.

Tubular Interlocking nail for repair of fracture in bovine femur

Management of long bone fractures in large animals is always difficult, especially more proximal bones such as femur; as external fixation does not provide stable fixation and internal fixation is difficult due to heavy muscular coverage around the bone. Commonly available internal fixation implants in the market are developed for human use, which are not adequate for fixation in large bovines. Interlocking nailing is one of the advanced internal fixation techniques with several mechanical advantages; however, the interlocking nail designed specifically for femur bone of large ruminants (cattle and buffaloes) is not available for ready clinical use. Tubular Interlocking Nail with locking bolts developed at IVRI was found effective for the treatment of femur fractures in both in vitro and in vivo studies. The tubular interlocking nail may have large market potential as no such device is available for large animal use; once made available a large number of veterinary surgeons from different veterinary colleges, polyclinics and private veterinary practitioners may use the nail in routine large animal clinical practice to treat complex fractures of femur which are otherwise difficult to treat.

Novel Bilateral Linear Fixator for Large animals

Management of long bone fractures in large animals is a challenge, especially open infected fractures, which cannot be managed using either external fixation or internal fixation techniques. External skeletal fixation (ESF) has several advantages to treat open fractures as they provide rigid fixation, allow drainage and dressing of open wounds, and allow early weight bearing on the limb. ESF devices available in the market are developed for human use, which are not suitable for large animals use. Bilateral linear fixator system developed at IVRI is unique in that it is simple in design, less cumbersome to apply and fracture reduction and compression at the fracture site can be brought about even after bone fixation. The external fixator may have good demand as no such device is available for large animal use, and it may be used to treat different long bone fractures in adult cattle, buffaloes and horses in routine clinical practice by veterinary surgeons in different veterinary colleges, polyclinics and by private practitioners.

Tractor driven portable feed block making machine

Presently, there is no standard machinery available for making feed blocks. Most of the machines employ a screw or hydraulic pressure (Yadav et al., 1993) for making blocks, whereas Berwal et al. (1993) used a hand-operated machine. Parveen Kumar et al. (2004) employed a densifying machine where the time taken for each block of 05 kg was five minutes and the dimension of the jacket was 12 x 12 x 18 inches. Singh et al., (2004) made compacted blocks using a feed block formation machine. It consisted of a feeding chamber, compression chamber, feed block retention chamber, hydraulic cylinders, power pack and electric control panel. They reported that feed blocks of square cross-section (20 x 20 cm) and of varying thickness for all kinds of feed materials could be prepared using this machine. These are a stationary type of feed block making machines so they cannot be ported from one place to another place. Keeping in mind this drawback we have developed Tractor Driven Portable Feed Block Maker, which can go to the places where wheat straw is being threshed out under field conditions and moreover, tractors are available at every village. The densified complete feed block technology offers a variety of benefits to the farmers and the feed manufacturers. This could be a promising technology for the regions where there is a perennial shortage of green forage and the dry roughages are also in short supply and are being transported from outside. The advantages are: a promising way to feed a balanced ration to ruminants; an efficient nutrients delivery system – less feed wastage; time as well as labour saving - respite to women; feed as blocks require lesser storage space; densified feed cheaper and easier to transport; better way to manage crop residues and reduce pollution; improved productive and reproductive performance; lesser methane emission from animals; better health status; feed banks can be set up as a pre-emptive disaster management measure; scope for value addition – blocks as a vehicle for medicine or nutraceutical administration and better economic returns through providing stability in feed and milk prices. To improve the feeding value of crop residues various technologies are adopted. These could be broadly classified as follows: Increasing the protein content by the addition of non-proteinous nitrogen sources like urea-ammoniation techniques. Improving digestibility through physical means like chopping, grinding, etc. Supplementing crop residue with tree fodder/concentrates and feeding either as complete feed in the form of mash, pellets or compressed blocks. In the preparation of enriched crop residue-based feed blocks, all the above technologies are woven together in one way or another. The urea treatment of straws by and large increases the crude protein content two to three-fold. With wheat straw, urea treatment increased the crude protein from 3.9 to 9.8%. According to Verma et al. (1996), feeding compressed complete feed blocks to Murrah buffaloes resulted in a higher intake of DM, digestible DM and all other nutrients than feeding the diet in mash form and also resulted in higher retention of calcium and phosphorus. Tractor driven portable feed block maker has advantages over Stationary type feed block making machine that it can move the field to field for compressing the wheat straw blocks otherwise wheat straw in loose form has to be brought near to fixed/stationary type of block making machine. It is operated by the hydraulic pressure of the tractor so it is very cost-effective and easily operational.

Prepucial cleaning device for bulls

Cleaning of prepuce before semen collection is an important activity leading to clean semen production from bulls. At present, there is no suitable device for proper and effective cleaning of the prepuce of bulls. This newly developed ‘Prepucial cleaning device for bulls’ will effectively clean the prepucial cavity of a bull. The newly developed ‘Prepucial cleaning device for bulls’ will be helpful in the effective cleaning of the prepucial cavity of bulls to be used for semen collection. The device is simple to use and can clean prepucial cavity of 4-5 bulls once loaded with cleaning fluid.

Fetal Lubricator

Dystocia is one of the real emergencies in veterinary services. Most of the time, fetal fluid get drained out or thickened due to delayed presentation of case and delivery of fetus becomes very difficult until and unless proper fetal lubrication is achieved.
Lubrication of fetus, mostly by paraffin oil, is being achieved either by manual method by repeated insertion of hand or by douching can where the disadvantages are improper lubrication, wastage of lubricant (70%-80%), time consuming and repeated insertion of hand causes stress to the dam. To overcome these problems, this instrument was designed to facilitate the normal parturition by infusing lubricants into the birth canal as lubrication is key to success of relief of dystocia. This mechanized device is very effective for complete lubrication of fetus in short time with almost no stress to dam and least wastage of lubricant. This devices also reduces the cost and quantity of lubricant used (Rs.200 vs. Rs. 800) & it is very easy to handle.

Thawing Device

In cattle and buffalo breeding, artificial insemination using frozen semen is the most widespread tool for improving the genetic potential.
Despite refinement of the developed technology, conception using frozen thaw semen is still far from satisfactory. One of the reasons for low CR is improper thawing of frozen semen straws. Thus, this improper thawing either due to ignorance or laxity, results in low conception and great economic loss to farmers. Though commercial thawing kit is available from commercial manufacturer, it is just not suitable enough for field purposes. The draw backs are many such as it requires more energy to thaw around 200-500 mL of water, too heavy, large in size, and expensive. The developed ‘Portable thawing device’ addresses all these problems catering to the overall need of the livestock owners for thawing of the frozen semen straws. Target group are state Animal Husbandry Departments, AI workers, Livestock owners, laboratories, institutions having a dairy/cattle stock, etc. The developed device has several features like rechargeable, Cut-off at 37.5°C and restart at 35°C, Digital timer, beep after 30 sec, and Water holder (50 mL, 14 cm ht), with scale resistance properties etc combined into one single unit catering to the overall need of the livestock owners for thawing of the frozen semen straws.

Cyst Ablation Device

Cystic ovarian degeneration (COD) is considered to be one of the most important causes of reproductive failure in cattle and due to this disease there is increase in inter calving interval, reduced milk production and increased culling rate which aggravates the economic loss to the farmers.
The incidence of ovarian follicular cysts in dairy cattle has been reported to be from 5.6 to 18.8%. Prior to the advent of hormonal preparations, manual rupture of the cyst during rectal palpation was practiced to treat cyst condition. This method of trea tment cannot be recommended because it can cause ovaro-bursal adhesion. Hormones that could induce ovulation like GnRH, hCG and also now people are using CIDR/PRID along with GnRH and prostaglandin treatments. These treatments are costly and varying results were reported. It was reported that emptying of cystic fluid may be advantageous. As it is reported that emptying the cyst increased the success of COD treatment and in few places in India and also in abroad Veterinarians use Trans-vaginal ultrasonography guided follicle aspiration unit for cyst ablation/aspiration. But such costly assembly could not be used under field condition as it require technical expertise, power supply and also transport of such machine is difficult. Therefore, a low cost, handy device has been made for cyst ablation to reduce the cost of treatment and also duration of recovery. In pilot study involving 25 cases result revealed that treatment with buserelin after needle aspiration of the cyst, produced an overall recovery rate of 75.6% within 30 days of treatment and a conception rate of 64.7%.

Ovarian Cyst Aspiration cum Ablation Device

Cystic ovarian degeneration one of the most frustrating reproductive disorders for farmers as well as Veterinarians. Since the disease treatment protocols are quite costly, involve technicality and also require multiple visit of the Veterinarian.
COD is very common in dairy cattle and its prevalence varies from 5.6 to 18.8%. Prior to advent of the gonadotropins hormones practition ers used to do manual rupture of cyst and many a times that leads to heamorrhage and later ovaro-bursal adhesion might be developed and that leads to infertility. However, now veterinarians are using Trans-vaginal ultrasonography guided follicle aspiration unit for cyst ablation/aspiration. But such costly assembly could not be used under field condition as it require technical expertise, power supply and also transport of such machine is difficult. Therefore, a low cost, handy device which could aspirate/and ablate the cystic follicle would be a great help to field Veterinarians. It was reported that emptying the cyst increased the success rate of cystic ovarian follicle treatment protocol. Few places in India and abroad veterinarians are using trans-vaginal ultrasonography guided follicle aspiration (TVFA) for cyst ablation/aspiration. However, operating such equipment requires much technical skill and also transporting TVFA assembly under field condition raises question on its safety and optimal operational function. Therefore, a handy easy to operate with cyst aspiration facility were made so that cystic fluid could be collected and analysed in laboratory for various endocrine and biochemical changes in comparison to normal follicular fluid. In pilot study involving 10 cystic follicle cases wherein ablation cum aspiration efficiency of the device was 100 percent however, complete recovery (aspiration plus buserelin treatment) took place in 6 cases within 30 to 35 days and successful conception were reported in 5 cases.

Herd Animal Catcher

Herd animal catcher was designed to catch/ restrain specific cattle or buffalo from herd. In many farms setting large animal were reared under semi intensive loose housing system and in case of general examination, disease, treatment and research purpose require restraining of specific animal.
In present situation, either we are separating the particular animal from the herd then restraining or throwing the rope loop over the neck under running condition of the animals and which invariably fails many times. While performing these procedures whole herd of the animals run from one corners to other, jumping and there is every chance to get wounded and other animals may also get injured. Therefore, in present practices catching o f specific animal quite difficult, time consuming, labour intensive and very much stressful to the animals as well as handlers. The present device has been developed with target to catch the specific animal with minimum disturbances to the other herd mate. It is telescoping rod shape device with two hooks at the tip to anchor the loop and remaining rope will run along the length of catching device. The anchored loop will be thrown/release on specific animals from certain distance and height and it will enter into neck and horn of the cattle without disturbing the other animals and finally noose will be tightened and restrained. So in this process one person is sufficient to restrain the particular animal without disturbing the other herd mate.

Internal Genital Injection Device

Incomplete cervical dilation one most burning and upcoming bovine obstetrical problems and require holistic approach to treat the cervix for successful dilation and prevent the animal undergoing cesarean section.
The hospital incidence of ICD in cattle and buffaloes are 34.9% and many a times due to failure of cervical dilation leads to C-section which is quite costly and also animal future fertility become questionable. Apart from this there was no device to deliver the drug into seminal vesicle in case of seminal vesiculitis of precious pedigree bulls. In northern state due to strict ban on cow slau ghter, a lot female cattle roaming on the road and if there is need for chemosterilization to control their population against non surgical method which is costly and require a lot of post operative care to check their population. It is well established fact that some of the drugs like few pharmacological agents (PGE2 & Hyaluronidase) has significant role in cervical dilation if administered intra-cervical. In non surgical chemosterilization of unproductive free roaming female cattle which require chemosterilant delivery at the site of both the ovaries and also in many cases of seminal vesiculitis the precious pedigreed bull require drug delivery at the site of seminal vesicles. Keeping all these problems in mind, a internal drug delivery device in the name of “Internal Genital Injection Device” has been developed wherein a syringe of capacity of 3 to 10 ml could be loaded and under epidural anaethesia (if required) drug/chemical may be delivered at the site of cervix in case of dystocia due to incomplete cervical dilation, at the site of seminal vesicle in case of seminal vesiculitis in bull and at the site of ovaries to make cattle sterile with the mean of chemosterilisation to control stray cattle population.

Hybrid External Skeletal Fixation Device With Two Side Bars (Hef-2ns) For Large Animals

Management of long bone fractures in large animals is a challenge, especially open infected fractures, which cannot be managed using either external fixation or internal fixation techniques.
External skeletal fixation (ESF) has several advantages to treat open fractures a s they provide rigid fixation, allow drainage and dressing of open wounds, and allow early weight bearing on the limb. ESF devices available in the market are developed for human use, which are not suitable for large animal use. Hybrid external skeletal fixation device with two side bars developed at IVRI is unique in that it is simple in design, less cumbersome to apply and fracture reduction and compression at the fracture site can be brought about even after bone fixation. The external fixator may have good demand as no such device is available for large animal use, and it may be used to treat different compound fractures of tibia in adult cattle, buffaloes and horses in routine clinical practice by veterinary surgeons in different veterinary colleges, polyclinics and by private practitioners.

Hybrid External Skeletal Fixation Device With Four Side Bars (Hef-4ns) For Large Animals

Management of long bone fractures in large animals is a challenge, especially open infected fractures, which can not be managed using either external fixation or internal fixation techniques.
External skeletal fixation (ESF) has several advantages to treat open fractures as they provide rigid fixation, allow drainage and dressing of open wounds, and allow early weight bearing on the li mb. ESF devices available in the market are developed for human use, which are not suitabl e for large animal use. Hybrid external skeletal fixation device with four side bars developed at IVRI is unique in that it is simple in design, less cumbersome to apply and fracture reduction and compression at the fracture site can be brought about even after bone fixation. The external fixator may have good demand as no such device is available for large animal use, and it may be used to treat different compound fractures of tibia in adult cattle, buffaloes and horses in routine clinical practice by veterinary surgeons in different veterinary colleges, polyclinics and by private practitioners.

Locking Plate Interlocking

Design was found clinically and biomechanically effective to stabilize unstable femur fractures in dogs.

IVRI Urinary Catheter

Tube cystostomy was done with existing foleys catheter for humans as a make shift arrangement since animals are varied sizes. Despite the tube cystostomy the residual volume of the urine is there which is not desirable.
Other undesirable features of the existing catheter in animals are Abdominal accumulations are drained for once only and No provision in the existing catheter to drain the abdominal accumulations. So scalding and necrosis, uremia were the complications. In large animals, Approach from ischiorectal fossa due to small size of catheter, Repair of bladder is difficult since it is a blind approach/ ventral ruptures are difficult to heal Residual urine volume is more. Animal passed urine only when the small tip of the catheter dips in the urine level. So we customized the design and size of the catheter according to requirement in various species like male buffalo, male cattle, dogs and sheep and goats. Balloon one sided inflated so the tip falls on the lower wall of bladder and thus provides more drainage due to gravity. Stillet inside the main tube for easy piercing Holes are perpendicular for more drainage. More no. of fenestrations on the tip. Length of the tip is more so that all the urine is in contact with the tip. A parallel drainage tube with fenestrations attached with the main drain tube to achieve drainage from the abdominal accumulations/ leakage/ ventral ruptures etc which also allowed flushing of the cavity and checked abdominal accumulations.

Portable Downer Bovine Stand

It is friendly stand/for effective management of downer bovine. It will help in peri-parturient injuries and subsequent decubitus ulcer.
Better healing environment in cases of nerve injuries cases due to accidents or any reason – Hypocalcaemia, Fracture cases, Weak and debili tated bovine, Muscles damage etc. Any other mixed condition causing downer. Design application no. 354808-001.

Cannulated Cancellous Cap to prevent intramedullary pin migration in dogs

The developed design is useful to prevent migration of the inserted intramedullary pin out of medullary cavity of long bone in dogs during fracture management.

Portable Goat Feeder

Walk-In Animal Image Acquisition System

Portable Pig Feed Dispenser

Portable Mini Biogas Plant