Capture
Record high-definition color video with even lighting, minimal shadows, and no reflections.
Grimace Scale Analysis
Grimace analysis, simplified.
Painface is a browser-based software platform for measuring spontaneous pain from mouse facial expressions in videos of black- and white-coated mice.
Legacy AppAbout the platform
Consistent inputs. Meaningful scores.
PainFace estimates Grimace Scale and motion class from cage-recording videos. Because its ground-truth data was created under controlled conditions, matching those conditions is essential for reliable results.
Upload
Use MP4 video captured directly at 30 fps to reduce distorted or blurred individual frames.
Analyze
Review automated grimace and motion results in a secure, organization-aware workspace.
Recommended imaging conditions
Accuracy may be reduced when acquisition differs from the validated setup.
- 1080p high-definition color video
- 30 fps captured directly to MP4
- Well illuminated with minimal shadows
- No reflections in the behavioral chamber
- Black- or white-coated mice
- 150 Mb/s or faster SDXC card
The team
The people behind PainFace.
Researchers, annotators, and software specialists working together to advance automated Grimace Scale analysis.
Eric McCoy
Master annotator and scorer.
SK Park
PainFace software and machine learning.
Mark Zylka
Jeff Mogil
Many others made PainFace possible.
Guorong Wu of UNC School of Medicine, and Zach Mullen and Jacob Nesbitt from Kitware.
NIH / NINDS
This work was supported under award R01NS114259.
Resources
Downloads and research.
Download the imaging guide, a baseline sample video, and its evaluation output. Please cite McCoy et al. (2024) when PainFace facilitates your research.
Downloads
Key references
Found a software issue or have constructive feedback?
painface@med.unc.edu →