GINYS-IRTA-002

High Biocontainment Unit – Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal

The High Biocontainment Unit facilities at IRTA-CReSA are suitable for working with pathogens of hazard group 3 (according to RD 664/97) and a wide range of animal models (from mice to ruminants, but also all kind of birds). IRTA-CReSA offers the possibility of using both laboratory and animal facilities to perform studies (in a 1500 m2 working area inside a facility accounting with 4500 m2). Technologically advanced facilities to carry out studies with pathogenic agents that require High Biocontainment (also labeled as Animal Biosafety Level 3 (ABSL3) o Biosafety Level 3 Agriculture (BSL3-Ag) measures for their handling. Secure management of high-hazardous infectious agents including airtight isolation systems, negative pressure gradients, absolute air filtration and treatment of all generated liquid and solid wastes. The ABSL3 facility comprises working spaces dedicated to laboratories and animal facilities to work with small and large animals. Experiments are performed following strict ethical and biosafety regulations, providing as much care and animal welfare as possible. The High Biocontainment Unit at IRTA-CReSA is one of the two nodes of the ICTS High Biosafety Laboratory Network (RLASB).

GINYS-IRTA-001

Mobile TC (trailer)

Computed tomography (CT) allows us to see, in a non-invasive way, the composition of materials or products. For this reason, it can be applied to live animals in order to carry out genetic improvement studies, growth curves, studies on fat deposition according to diet, genetics, sex, age, etc. It can also be applied to animal carcasses (or pieces) to obtain their tissue composition, as well as other relevant quality characteristics such as fat and muscle thickness, areas, volumes, etc. In this sense, the technology is applied as a reference system for calibrating pig carcass classification equipment on the slaughter line. CT also has significant potential for the optimization of food processes, since it is a non-destructive technology that allows the evaluation of the same product throughout the entire process. The fact that the salt and water content in a given area can be predicted makes CT very useful for optimizing salting and curing processes and for predicting their microbiological safety. It can also be used to optimize freezing processes, among others. The X-rays emitted by CT equipment lose part of their initial energy when passing through tissues. This energy attenuation is directly related to the density of the matter, producing images with greater contrast as its density increases. This allows images to be obtained where the different tissues can be differentiated and different quality parameters related to them can be obtained (fat and lean thicknesses, area, volumes, fat and lean content, etc.). This is why it is a very useful technology in terms of the quality of the carcass and pieces. In addition, salt has a higher density than meat and appears in the images with greater contrast. Therefore, curing processes can be easily evaluated using this technology. IRTA offers computed tomography to support the entire agri-food sector with a mobile CT, installed inside a truck, which allows this technology to be applied in any industry.