ROBOTIC MICROSCOPE TO STUDY THE KINEMATICS OF MORPHOGENETIC MOVEMENTS IN AMPHIBIAN EMBRYOS

摘要

A robotic microscope system was developed to collect time-lapse images of live embryos from arbitrary viewing angles. Images were collected from 63 viewing angles and custom software was used to make a three-dimensional reconstruction of the surface of the embryo. The motion of surface points was tracked by image processing, deformation tensors F were calculated from the point correspondences, and decomposition techniques were utilized to extract principal strain magnitudes and directions from F. The highest observed strain rate was 28±5% per hour, along the midline of the neural plate during developmental stage 14, while the greatest contractile strain rate was -35±5% per hour, normal to the embryo midline during stage 15.