title: Design and implementation of a custom built optical projection tomography system.
abstract: Optical projection tomography (OPT) is an imaging modality that has, in the last decade, answered numerous biological questions owing to its ability to view gene expression in 3 dimensions (3D) at high resolution for samples up to several cm(3). This has increased demand for a cabinet OPT system, especially for mouse embryo phenotyping, for which OPT was primarily designed for. The Medical Research Council (MRC) Technology group (UK) released a commercial OPT system, constructed by Skyscan, called the Bioptonics OPT 3001 scanner that was installed in a limited number of locations. The Bioptonics system has been discontinued and currently there is no commercial OPT system available. Therefore, a few research institutions have built their own OPT system, choosing parts and a design specific to their biological applications. Some of these custom built OPT systems are preferred over the commercial Bioptonics system, as they provide improved performance based on stable translation and rotation stages and up to date CCD cameras coupled with objective lenses of high numerical aperture, increasing the resolution of the images. Here, we present a detailed description of a custom built OPT system that is robust and easy to build and install. Included is a hardware parts list, instructions for assembly, a description of the acquisition software and a free download site, and methods for calibration. The described OPT system can acquire a full 3D data set in 10 minutes at 6.7 micron isotropic resolution. The presented guide will hopefully increase adoption of OPT throughout the research community, for the OPT system described can be implemented by personnel with minimal expertise in optics or engineering who have access to a machine shop.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ; Mouse Imaging Centre (MICe), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dazai
authors.forename: Johnathon R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Walls
authors.forename: Nicholas W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Gale
authors.forename: R Mark
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Henkelman
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology; D004867:Equipment Design; D051379:Mice; D055620:Optical Phenomena; D012984:Software; D041622:Tomography, Optical / Q000295:instrumentation*
references.citation: J Anat. 2010 Dec;217(6):651-64
references.pmid: 20840354
references.citation: Diabetes. 2010 Jul;59(7):1756-64
references.pmid: 20393145
references.citation: J Clin Invest. 2011 Jun;121(6):2278-89
references.pmid: 21606590
references.citation: PLoS One. 2008 Aug 06;3(8):e2853
references.pmid: 18682734
references.citation: Development. 2009 Jun;136(12):1963-75
references.pmid: 19465594
references.citation: J Anat. 2007 Jul;211(1):132-7
references.pmid: 17532797
references.citation: Nat Methods. 2013 Jul;10(7):599-600
references.pmid: 23749300
references.citation: Organogenesis. 2009 Oct;5(4):211-6
references.pmid: 20539740
references.citation: J Vis Exp. 2009 Jun 02;(28):
references.pmid: 19578329
references.citation: J Biomed Opt. 2009 Nov-Dec;14(6):064035
references.pmid: 20059273
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2008 Jan 1;39(1):32-9
references.pmid: 17942324
references.citation: J Neurosci Methods. 2008 Jun 30;171(2):207-13
references.pmid: 18462802
references.citation: Autism Res. 2011 Oct;4(5):368-76
references.pmid: 21882360
references.citation: Birth Defects Res C Embryo Today. 2004 Sep;72(3):213-23
references.pmid: 15495188
references.citation: Dev Biol. 2011 Dec 1;360(1):110-22
references.pmid: 21963425
references.citation: J Cell Sci. 2012 Nov 1;125(Pt 21):5159-67
references.pmid: 22899709
references.citation: J Innov Opt Health Sci. 2009 Jan 1;2(3):253-259
references.pmid: 20582330
references.citation: Physiol Genomics. 2006 Jan 12;24(2):154-62
references.pmid: 16410543
references.citation: Pediatr Surg Int. 2010 Apr;26(4):407-11
references.pmid: 20182749
references.citation: Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2011 Oct;21(5):579-84
references.pmid: 21962442
references.citation: Physiol Genomics. 2012 Aug 1;44(15):778-85
references.pmid: 22718750
references.citation: J Biomed Opt. 2011 Apr;16(4):046004
references.pmid: 21529073
references.citation: IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2012 Jul;31(7):1358-71
references.pmid: 22374352
references.citation: Nat Methods. 2007 Jan;4(1):31-3
references.pmid: 17143281
references.citation: NMR Biomed. 2009 Oct;22(8):857-66
references.pmid: 19598179
references.citation: Opt Express. 2005 May 30;13(11):4210-23
references.pmid: 19495335
references.citation: Phys Med Biol. 2007 May 21;52(10):2775-90
references.pmid: 17473351
references.citation: Gene Expr Patterns. 2007 Apr;7(5):635-44
references.pmid: 17280871
references.citation: Islets. 2011 Jul-Aug;3(4):204-8
references.pmid: 21633198
references.citation: Development. 2012 Sep;139(17):3248-56
references.pmid: 22872090
references.citation: Nat Commun. 2011 Feb 08;2:187
references.pmid: 21304516
references.citation: Anat Embryol (Berl). 2006 Jun;211(3):213-21
references.pmid: 16429276
references.citation: Methods Mol Biol. 2012;886:95-107
references.pmid: 22639254
references.citation: Kidney Int. 2010 Jun;77(12):1132-9
references.pmid: 20200502
references.citation: Brain Res Bull. 2005 Sep 15;66(4-6):449-53
references.pmid: 16144630
references.citation: J Endocrinol. 2009 Oct;203(1):133-42
references.pmid: 19587266
references.citation: PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e50744
references.pmid: 23185643
references.citation: Pediatr Surg Int. 2009 Nov;25(11):967-71
references.pmid: 19690872
references.citation: Science. 2002 Apr 19;296(5567):541-5
references.pmid: 11964482
references.citation: PLoS One. 2011 Apr 29;6(4):e18963
references.pmid: 21559481
references.citation: J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2003 Feb;35(2):217-22
references.pmid: 12606262
references.citation: J Anat. 2010 Oct;217(4):289-99
references.pmid: 20979583
references.citation: Neuroscience. 2005;136(3):625-32
references.pmid: 16344140
references.citation: Nature. 2004 Nov 4;432(7013):107-12
references.pmid: 15525990
references.citation: J Biomed Opt. 2008 Sep-Oct;13(5):054070
references.pmid: 19021448
references.citation: Nat Genet. 2002 Jan;30(1):59-65
references.pmid: 11743576
references.citation: Dis Model Mech. 2013 May;6(3):571-9
references.pmid: 23519032
references.citation: Dev Dyn. 2013 May;242(5):527-38
references.pmid: 23417982
references.citation: Nat Methods. 2013 Jul;10(7):598-9
references.pmid: 23749304
references.citation: BMC Neurosci. 2004 Aug 06;5:27
references.pmid: 15298700
references.citation: Pediatr Surg Int. 2008 Jan;24(1):3-11
references.pmid: 17962963