Simultaneous measurement of neurite and neural body mass accumulation quantitative phase imaging

• Published in: Analyst (London) Vol. 146; no. 4; pp. 1361 - 1368
• Main Authors: Pradeep, Soorya, Tasnim, Tasmia, Zhang, Huanan, Zangle, Thomas A
• Format: Journal Article
• Published: 22.02.2021
• ISSN: 0003-2654; 1364-5528
• DOI: 10.1039/d0an01961e

Measurement of neuron behavior is crucial for studying neural development and evaluating the impact of potential therapies on neural regeneration. Conventional approaches to imaging neuronal behavior require labeling and do not separately quantify the growth processes that underlie neural regeneration. In this paper we demonstrate the use of quantitative phase imaging (QPI) as a label-free, quantitative measurement of neuron behavior in vitro . By combining QPI with image processing, our method separately measures the mass accumulation rates of soma and neurites. Additionally, the data provided by QPI can be used to separately measure the processes of maturation and formation of neurites. Overall, our approach has the potential to greatly simplify conventional neurite outgrowth measurements, while providing key data on the resources used to produce neurites during neural development. Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) used to quantify the mass of soma (cell bodies) and neurites as well as the rates of biomass production due to neurite maturation and formation during neural differentiation.