The Mouse Grimace Scale (MGS) is an established method for estimating pain in mice during animal studies. Recently, an improved and standardized MGS set-up and an algorithm for automated and blinded output of images for MGS evaluation were introduced. The present study evaluated the application of this standardized set-up and the robustness of the associated algorithm at four facilities in different locations and as part of varied experimental projects. Experiments using the MGS performed at four facilities (F1-F4) were included in the study; 200 pictures per facility (100 pictures each rated as positive and negative by the algorithm) were evaluated by three raters for image quality and reliability of the algorithm. In three of the four facilities, sufficient image quality and consistency were demonstrated. Intraclass correlation coefficient, calculated to demonstrate the correlation among raters at the three facilities (F1-F3), showed excellent correlation. The specificity and sensitivity of the results obtained by different raters and the algorithm were analysed using Fisher's exact test (p < 0.05). The analysis indicated a sensitivity of 77% and a specificity of 64%. The results of our study showed that the algorithm demonstrated robust performance at facilities in different locations in accordance with the strict application of our MGS setup.

中文翻译：

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半自动生成的鼠标鬼脸秤图片：一项多实验室分析（第2部分）。

小鼠鬼脸量表（MGS）是一种在动物研究过程中评估小鼠疼痛的既定方法。最近，介绍了一种改进的和标准化的MGS设置以及一种用于MGS评估的自动盲目输出图像的算法。本研究评估了这种标准化设置的应用以及相关算法在不同位置的四个设施中以及作为各种实验项目的一部分的鲁棒性。该研究包括在四个设施（F1-F4）上使用MGS进行的实验；由三个评估者评估每个设施200张图片（通过算法将100张图片分别评定为正面和负面）的图像质量和算法可靠性。在这四个设施中的三个中，证明了足够的图像质量和一致性。类内相关系数 为证明这三个机构（F1-F3）的评分者之间的相关性而进行的计算显示出极好的相关性。使用费舍尔精确检验分析了不同评分者和算法得出的结果的特异性和敏感性（p <0.05）。分析表明敏感性为77％，特异性为64％。我们的研究结果表明，根据我们的MGS设置的严格应用，该算法在不同位置的设施中均表现出强大的性能。