Automated interpulse-duration assessment (AIDA): a new technique for detecting disturbances in cardiac activity in selected macroinvertebrates

The Automated Interpulse Duration Assessment system (AIDA) helps in the diagnosis of disturbances in cardiac rhythms in macroinvertebrates by regularly monitoring the interpulse intervals. AIDA studies show that starvation in the mussel Mytilus edulis and the crab Carcinus maenas increases disturbances in cardiac rhythms and a fall in the heart rate. The system has the potential to measure locomotor activity, nutritional state and thermal and salinity stress.