biostudies-literatureUnknownBonato JEuropean Research CouncilNINDS NIH HHSChanges in the intracellular calcium concentration are a fundamental fingerprint of astrocytes, the main type of glial cell. Astrocyte calcium signals can be measured with two-photon microscopy, occur in anatomically restricted subcellular regions, and are coordinated across astrocytic networks. However, current analytical tools to identify the astrocytic subcellular regions where calcium signals occur are time-consuming and extensively rely on user-defined parameters. These limitations limit reproducibility and prevent scalability to large datasets and fields-of-view. Here, we present Astrocytic calcium Spatio-Temporal Rapid Analysis (ASTRA), a novel software combining deep learning with image feature engineering for fast and fully automated semantic segmentation of two-photon calcium imabioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2023.05.03.539211https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10187152biostudies-literatureASTRA: a deep learning algorithm for fast semantic segmentation of large-scale astrocytic networks.PMC10187152U19 NS107464647725R01 NS108410R01 NS109961Curreli SPanzeri SBonato JRomanzi SFellin TfalseASTRA: a deep learning algorithm for fast semantic segmentation of large-scale astrocytic networks.Changes in the intracellular calcium concentration are a fundamental fingerprint of astrocytes, the main type of glial cell. Astrocyte calcium signals can be measured with two-photon microscopy, occur in anatomically restricted subcellular regions, and are coordinated across astrocytic networks. However, current analytical tools to identify the astrocytic subcellular regions where calcium signals occur are time-consuming and extensively rely on user-defined parameters. These limitations limit reproducibility and prevent scalability to large datasets and fields-of-view. Here, we present Astrocytic calcium Spatio-Temporal Rapid Analysis (ASTRA), a novel software combining deep learning with image feature engineering for fast and fully automated semantic segmentation of two-photon calcium ima2023-01-01T00:00:00Z2023 May2025-07-11T03:03:41.214Z2025-07-11T03:03:41.214ZS-EPMC101871523720551910.1101/2023.05.03.539211