title: An automated whisker tracking tool for the rat facial nerve injury paradigm.
abstract: The two-dimensional videographic analysis of vibrissal movements in behaving rodents has become a standard method to estimate the degree of functional impairment and recovery after facial nerve injuries quantitatively. The main limitation of the method is the time consuming, uneconomic process of manually tracking the vibrissae in video sequences.
  
  
  
  We developed a novel tool allowing automated detection of untagged vibrissae (two on each side of the snout). To compare the new method with the standard manual tracking approach, we used videos of unrestrained rats with unilateral section and immediate suture of the facial nerve performed two months earlier.
  
  
  
  Measurement agreement analyses showed that the two methods are equivalent for both "normal" high-amplitude vibrissal movements (non-operated side) and low-amplitude whisking (reinnervated side). Spectral analysis revealed a significant deviation in the power spectra on the control and injured side, indicating that bilaterally coordinated whisker movements are not present two months after surgery.
  
  
  
  The novel method yields results equal to those of the manual tracking approach. An advantage of our tool is the possibility to significantly increase sample size without additional labor cost.
  
  
  
  The novel tool can increase the efficacy and spectrum of functional measures used in facial nerve regeneration research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jena University Hospital, Lessingstrasse 2, D-07743 Jena, Germany; Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Fetscherstrasse 74, D-01307 Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: benjamin.dorschner@uniklinikum-dresden.de.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dorschner
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, Friedrich Schiller University, D-07740 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Süße
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, Friedrich Schiller University, D-07740 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ortmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jena University Hospital, Lessingstrasse 2, D-07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Irintchev
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, Friedrich Schiller University, D-07740 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Denzler
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jena University Hospital, Lessingstrasse 2, D-07743 Jena, Germany. Electronic address: Orlando.Guntinas@med.uni-jena.de.
authors.forename: Orlando
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Guntinas-Lichius
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057205:Automation, Laboratory / Q000379:methods*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005154:Facial Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology; D020220:Facial Nerve Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007839:Functional Laterality; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014738:Vibrissae; D014741:Video Recording / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Automated whisker tracking; Facial nerve regeneration; Functional measures; Spectral analysis; Vibrissae; Videographic analysis