A computer vision approach to rare cell in vivo fluorescence flow cytometry.

ABSTRACT: Noninvasive enumeration of rare circulating cell populations in small animals is of great importance in many areas of biomedical research. In this work, we describe a macroscopic fluorescence imaging system and automated computer vision algorithm that allows in vivo detection, enumeration and tracking of circulating fluorescently-labeled cells from multiple large blood vessels in the ear of a mouse. This imaging system uses a 660 nm laser and a high sensitivity electron-multiplied charge coupled device camera (EMCCD) to acquire fluorescence image sequences from relatively large (∼5 × 5 mm(2) ) imaging areas. The primary technical challenge was developing an automated method for identifying and tracking rare cell events in image sequences with substantial autofluorescence and noise content.

SUBMITTER: Markovic S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3934567 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature