Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) enables 3D volumetric measurements of small objects with high magnification. DHM has been applied to measure a variety of experimental studies, including turbulent boundary layer, spray droplets, individual cells, development of zebrafish embryo, etc. Caenorhabditis Elegans (C. Elegans) is a tiny, free-living and transparent nematode, which has been extensively used as a model organism in studies of the development of the nervous system, genetics, etc. In addition to the 3D position and gesture, the morphology of the C. Elegans, described by body length and body volume, can also be extracted from the holograms recorded by DHM, while the locomotion of the C. Elegans can also be examined *in vivo*. In this study, a DHM system is applied to measure the size, morphology, and locomotion of two groups of Caenorhabditis Elegans with different development conditions (ATGL1 group and n2 group) in an 8-day time period from their birth to the adult stage, whose body lengths range from hundreds of micrometers to one millimeter. The length and volume of the C. Elegans are determined from the reconstructed images. The holograms of the two groups of C. Elegans are captured every 12 hours in the first 48 hours of development and every 24 hours from the 48th hour to 192nd hour. 20 C. Elegans are individually recorded for analysis. The locomotion of the C. Elegans is quantified from the continuously captured holograms. The locomotion is divided into linear motion and curl motion, which describes the motion of the center of mass of the C. Elegans, and the extent of how the C. Elegans change their bending gesture, respectively. The kinetic energy of the C. Elegans is evaluated with the two types of motion to describe the extent of how active the C. Elegans are. The statistics of length, volume and locomotion of the two groups of C. Elegans are compared at different development stages to illustrate the influence of the applied development conditions.


Measurements of Morphology and Locomotion of Caenorhabditis Elegans With Digital Holographic Microscopy

Division / Sponsors: 
Heat Transfer Division (HTD), Fluids Engineering Division (FED)

Heat Transfer Summer Conference
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/HT/HT2020/volume/83709

18th International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannels, and Minichannels
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ICNMM/ICNMM2020/volume/83693

Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/FEDSM/FEDSM2020/volume/83716

HT-ICNMM2020 - Virtual Conference, SHTC - Virtual Conference, FEDSM2020 - Virtual Conference

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