Alleviating Head-mounted Weight Burden for Neural Imaging in Freely-behaving Rodents Using a Helium-filled Balloon

Overview

Journal Res Sq

Date 2024 Nov 28

PMID 39606450

Authors

Yuehan Liu

Jing Zhang

Cheng-Yu Li

Haolin Zhang

Xingde Li

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The recently developed miniaturized head-mounted two-photon (2P) imaging devices have served as a valuable tool for neuroscientists, enabling real-time functional neural imaging in freely-behaving animals. Although the current 2P fiberscopes and miniscopes are lightweight, the weight of any potential additional accessories inevitably imposes a burden on the animal. Here, we present a buoyancy levitation method to alleviate head-mounted weight burden on mice. By utilizing the buoyance of a helium-filled balloon to counteract the additional weight of up to 7 g, both the motion behavior and neural activities remain unaffected by the added load. This easy-to-implement method provides a platform for studying neural network function in animals, effectively freeing them from the burden of head-mounted weight.

References

Helmchen F, Fee M, Tank D, Denk W . A miniature head-mounted two-photon microscope. high-resolution brain imaging in freely moving animals. Neuron. 2001; 31(6):903-12. DOI: 10.1016/s0896-6273(01)00421-4. View

Zipfel W, Williams R, Webb W . Nonlinear magic: multiphoton microscopy in the biosciences. Nat Biotechnol. 2003; 21(11):1369-77. DOI: 10.1038/nbt899. View

Guan H, Li D, Park H, Li A, Yue Y, Gau Y . Deep-learning two-photon fiberscopy for video-rate brain imaging in freely-behaving mice. Nat Commun. 2022; 13(1):1534. PMC: 8940941. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29236-1. View

Guan H, Liang W, Li A, Gau Y, Chen D, Li M . Multicolor fiber-optic two-photon endomicroscopy for brain imaging. Opt Lett. 2021; 46(5):1093-1096. PMC: 11214692. DOI: 10.1364/OL.412760. View

Liang W, Park H, Li K, Li A, Chen D, Guan H . Throughput-Speed Product Augmentation for Scanning Fiber-Optic Two-Photon Endomicroscopy. IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2020; 39(12):3779-3787. PMC: 7773217. DOI: 10.1109/TMI.2020.3005067. View

Montgomery K, Yeh A, Ho J, Tsao V, Mohan Iyer S, Grosenick L . Wirelessly powered, fully internal optogenetics for brain, spinal and peripheral circuits in mice. Nat Methods. 2015; 12(10):969-74. PMC: 5507210. DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.3536. View

Denk W, Strickler J, Webb W . Two-photon laser scanning fluorescence microscopy. Science. 1990; 248(4951):73-6. DOI: 10.1126/science.2321027. View

Chen T, Wardill T, Sun Y, Pulver S, Renninger S, Baohan A . Ultrasensitive fluorescent proteins for imaging neuronal activity. Nature. 2013; 499(7458):295-300. PMC: 3777791. DOI: 10.1038/nature12354. View

Zong W, Obenhaus H, Skytoen E, Eneqvist H, de Jong N, Vale R . Large-scale two-photon calcium imaging in freely moving mice. Cell. 2022; 185(7):1240-1256.e30. PMC: 8970296. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.02.017. View

10.

Svoboda K, Yasuda R . Principles of two-photon excitation microscopy and its applications to neuroscience. Neuron. 2006; 50(6):823-39. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2006.05.019. View

11.

Yang W, Yuste R . In vivo imaging of neural activity. Nat Methods. 2017; 14(4):349-359. PMC: 5903578. DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.4230. View

12.

Ozbay B, Futia G, Ma M, Bright V, Gopinath J, Hughes E . Three dimensional two-photon brain imaging in freely moving mice using a miniature fiber coupled microscope with active axial-scanning. Sci Rep. 2018; 8(1):8108. PMC: 5970169. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-26326-3. View

13.

Engelbrecht C, Johnston R, Seibel E, Helmchen F . Ultra-compact fiber-optic two-photon microscope for functional fluorescence imaging in vivo. Opt Express. 2008; 16(8):5556-64. DOI: 10.1364/oe.16.005556. View

14.

Kim C, Adhikari A, Deisseroth K . Integration of optogenetics with complementary methodologies in systems neuroscience. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2017; 18(4):222-235. PMC: 5708544. DOI: 10.1038/nrn.2017.15. View

15.

Zong W, Wu R, Li M, Hu Y, Li Y, Li J . Fast high-resolution miniature two-photon microscopy for brain imaging in freely behaving mice. Nat Methods. 2017; 14(7):713-719. DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.4305. View

16.

Li A, Guan H, Park H, Yue Y, Chen D, Liang W . Twist-free ultralight two-photon fiberscope enabling neuroimaging on freely rotating/walking mice. Optica. 2025; 8(6):870-879. PMC: 11741673. DOI: 10.1364/optica.422657. View

17.

Mathis A, Mamidanna P, Cury K, Abe T, Murthy V, Mathis M . DeepLabCut: markerless pose estimation of user-defined body parts with deep learning. Nat Neurosci. 2018; 21(9):1281-1289. DOI: 10.1038/s41593-018-0209-y. View

18.

Myaing M, MacDonald D, Li X . Fiber-optic scanning two-photon fluorescence endoscope. Opt Lett. 2006; 31(8):1076-8. DOI: 10.1364/ol.31.001076. View

19.

Sawinski J, Wallace D, Greenberg D, Grossmann S, Denk W, Kerr J . Visually evoked activity in cortical cells imaged in freely moving animals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009; 106(46):19557-62. PMC: 2773198. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0903680106. View

20.

Park H, Guan H, Li A, Yue Y, Li M, Lu H . High-speed fiber-optic scanning nonlinear endomicroscopy for imaging neuron dynamicsin vivo. Opt Lett. 2020; 45(13):3605-3608. PMC: 7585368. DOI: 10.1364/OL.396023. View