Rat Nose Cone

Used for the administration of anesthesia to rats during surgery/imaging in my research lab.

The geometry of several rat faces was mapped using size and location measurements. The asymmetrical, internal cutout was designed to funnel the anesthesia directly to the rat's nose and mirror the facial structure of a rat. The cone is designed to press tightly to the bridge of the nose, right below the eyes, preventing optical and researcher exposure to anesthesia. Air flow is directed and maximized at the nostrils of the rat to increase the effectiveness of the drug.

In the second iteration, I:

• Improved the mate to the hose
• Widened the nose hole
• Lengthened the cone and reduced the "face-mate" diameter to accommodate rats with smaller faces
• Added eye cutouts to further reduce optical exposure to the drug (this was a problem with rats with smaller faces)
• Dropped the cone to reduce strain on the rats' necks
• Added a square base for stability and as a reference for the asymmetry