Automated motion artifact removal for intravital microscopy, without a priori information

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 4; no. 1; p. 4507
• Main Authors: Lee, Sungon, Vinegoni, Claudio, Sebas, Matthew, Weissleder, Ralph
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 28-03-2014; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 14/19; 14/63; 14/69; 59; 639/301/930/2735; 639/301/930/328; 639/624/1107/328/1978; 692/700/1421; Animals; Humanities and Social Sciences; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Mice; Microscopy, Confocal - methods; Microscopy, Fluorescence - methods; Motion; multidisciplinary; Science
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep04507

Intravital fluorescence microscopy, through extended penetration depth and imaging resolution, provides the ability to image at cellular and subcellular resolution in live animals, presenting an opportunity for new insights into
in vivo
biology. Unfortunately, physiological induced motion components due to respiration and cardiac activity are major sources of image artifacts and impose severe limitations on the effective imaging resolution that can be ultimately achieved
in vivo
. Here we present a novel imaging methodology capable of automatically removing motion artifacts during intravital microscopy imaging of organs and orthotopic tumors. The method is universally applicable to different laser scanning modalities including confocal and multiphoton microscopy and offers artifact free reconstructions independent of the physiological motion source and imaged organ. The methodology, which is based on raw data acquisition followed by image processing, is here demonstrated for both cardiac and respiratory motion compensation in mice heart, kidney, liver, pancreas and dorsal window chamber.