Spatiotemporal image correlation analysis of blood flow in branched vessel networks of zebrafish embryos

Abstract

Ramification of blood circulation is relevant in a number of physiological and pathological conditions. The oxygen exchange occurs largely in the capillary bed, and the cancer progression is closely linked to the angiogenesis around the tumor mass. Optical microscopy has made impressive improvements in in vivo imaging and dynamic studies based on correlation analysis of time stacks of images. Here, we develop and test advanced methods that allow mapping the flow fields in branched vessel networks at the resolution of 10 to 20 μm. The methods, based on the application of spatiotemporal image correlation spectroscopy and its extension to cross-correlation analysis, are applied here to the case of early stage embryos of zebrafish.

Adaptive optics microspectrometer for cross-correlation measurement of microfluidic flows

“…The increase of the efficiency of the nonlinear excitation obtained by the optical aberrations correction, the accuracy in the laser spot positioning, and the use of no movable parts make our setup particularly suited to characterize flows in complex vessel networks, 57,58 in confined environments, 59 or in vivo 8 by means of cross-correlation methods. For these applications, it is essential to be able to select the observation volumes on an image collected with the same setting of the optical setup, particularly for low brightness and signal/noise ratio samples.…”