The adoption of biosensor systems in the management of animal care, either at the farm or home is not new. Sensor approaches have been developed since the early 1990s, in parallel with the emergence of automated processes, such as automated milking systems in dairy farming aimed to reduce labor requirements and associated costs. On a different level, customized portable blood glucose meters (PBGM) for monitoring diabetic pets have been commercially available for more than 15 years. Nowadays, a rapid expansion in the number of point-of-care (POC) systems for veterinary science is observed, the scope of which exceeds by far the respective applications for human medicine. In the present chapter, the progress in this continuously evolving field during the last 5 years is briefly reviewed.

Chapter Contents:

• 13.1 Introduction
• 13.2 Biosensors in animal husbandry
• 13.2.1 Disease surveillance
• 13.2.1.1 Mastitis
• 13.2.1.2 Porcine circovirus and classical swine fever virus
• 13.2.1.3 Influenza viruses
• 13.2.1.4 Other infectious disease agents
• 13.2.1.5 Noninfectious disease monitoring
• 13.2.2 Estrus and fertility monitoring
• 13.2.3 Other applications
• 13.3 Biosensors in pet care
• 13.3.1 Glucose and lactate monitoring
• 13.3.2 Screening for infectious disease
• 13.4 Conclusion
• References

Inspec keywords: sugar; biosensors; diseases; biomedical equipment

Other keywords: dairy farming; biosensor systems; biosensor applications; diabetic pets; automated processes; point-of-care systems; automated milking systems; portable blood glucose meters; veterinary science

Subjects: Biomedical measurement and imaging; Biosensors; Biomedical engineering; Biosensors