Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
PLoS Comput Biol. 2020 Jan 24;16(1):e1007402. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007402. eCollection 2020 Jan.
Quantification of behaviour is essential for biology. Since the whisker system is a popular model, it is important to have methods for measuring whisker movements from behaving animals. Here, we developed a high-speed imaging system that measures whisker movements simultaneously from two vantage points. We developed a whisker tracker algorithm that automatically reconstructs 3D whisker information directly from the 'stereo' video data. The tracker is controlled via a Graphical User Interface that also allows user-friendly curation. The algorithm tracks whiskers, by fitting a 3D Bezier curve to the basal section of each target whisker. By using prior knowledge of natural whisker motion and natural whisker shape to constrain the fits and by minimising the number of fitted parameters, the algorithm is able to track multiple whiskers in parallel with low error rate. We used the output of the tracker to produce a 3D description of each tracked whisker, including its 3D orientation and 3D shape, as well as bending-related mechanical force. In conclusion, we present a non-invasive, automatic system to track whiskers in 3D from high-speed video, creating the opportunity for comprehensive 3D analysis of sensorimotor behaviour and its neural basis.
行为量化对于生物学来说至关重要。由于胡须系统是一个流行的模型，因此，对于正在活动的动物，拥有测量胡须运动的方法非常重要。在这里，我们开发了一种高速成像系统，可从两个有利位置同时测量胡须运动。我们开发了一种胡须跟踪器算法，该算法可直接从“立体”视频数据中自动重建 3D 胡须信息。该跟踪器通过图形用户界面进行控制，该界面还允许用户友好地进行编辑。该算法通过将 3D Bezier 曲线拟合到每个目标胡须的基部，从而跟踪胡须。通过利用自然胡须运动和自然胡须形状的先验知识来约束拟合，并最小化拟合参数的数量，该算法能够以低错误率并行跟踪多个胡须。我们使用跟踪器的输出结果为每个跟踪的胡须生成 3D 描述，包括其 3D 方向和 3D 形状以及与弯曲相关的机械力。总之，我们提出了一种非侵入性的、自动的 3D 高速视频胡须跟踪系统，为全面的感觉运动行为及其神经基础的 3D 分析创造了机会。
