Project Details
Projekt
LF4D - Four-dimensional light field microscopy
Subject Area
Medical Physics, Biomedical Technology
Image and Language Processing, Computer Graphics and Visualisation, Human Computer Interaction, Ubiquitous and Wearable Computing
Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
Image and Language Processing, Computer Graphics and Visualisation, Human Computer Interaction, Ubiquitous and Wearable Computing
Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
Term
from 2019 to 2023
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 424541300
A systems-level understanding of biomedical processes in intact tissue necessitates fast, three-dimensional videography of dynamic processes with cellular resolution. Capturing a visual scene simultaneously from several perspectives (its light field) allows extracting depth information from single acquisitions without the need for time-consuming scanning procedures. With the advent of sufficiently large camera sensors and precision micro-manufacturing of multi-lens arrays, light field microscopy can be realized in very compact imaging instrumentation operating without moving parts. However, there are substantial challenges to develop efficient and fast reconstruction algorithms that yield accurate and robust results in realistic biological samples. In this research program, we will thus join forces between an expert team focused on image reconstruction, and a laboratory specialized on molecular imaging of zebrafish and human organoids to enable 4D light field microscopy for high-throughput microscopic analysis of dynamic molecular processes. We will reconstruct light field data from progressively difficult biological model systems in four steps from static samples with constant signal intensities to moving samples with time-varying signal intensities. To achieve efficient volume reconstructions, we will exploit constraints specific to each of the four scenarios, such as structural constraints or priors on the dynamics of the molecular process of interest. The resulting new reconstruction algorithms will enable biological laboratories worldwide to utilize four-dimensional light field microscopy to tackle biological questions related to high-throughput 3D gene expression screening, in-vivo biomechanics, and synchronicity of neuronal activity patterns.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
