A multiparametric assay for quantitative nerve regeneration evaluation.
We introduce an assay for the semi-automated quantification of nerve regeneration by image analysis. Digital images of histological sections of regenerated nerves are recorded using an automated inverted microscope and merged into high-resolution mosaic images representing the entire nerve. These are analysed by a dedicated image-processing package that computes nerve-specific features (e.g. nerve area, fibre count, myelinated area) and fibre-specific features (area, perimeter, myelin sheet thickness). The assay's performance and correlation of the automatically computed data with visually obtained data are determined on a set of 140 semithin sections from the distal part of a rat tibial nerve from four different experimental treatment groups (control, sham, sutured, cut) taken at seven different time points after surgery. Results show a high correlation between the manually and automatically derived data, and a high discriminative power towards treatment. Extra value is added by the large feature set. In conclusion, the assay is fast and offers data that currently can be obtained only by a combination of laborious and time-consuming tests.
Weyn
B
B
Visielab, Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Belgium. babs.weyn@ua.ac.be
van Remoortere
M
M
Nuydens
R
R
Meert
T
T
van de Wouwer
G
G
D000818:Animals; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008853:Microscopy; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D010525:Peripheral Nerves; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013977:Tibia / Q000294:innervation