PUBLICATION

Deep Learning Approach for Quantification of Fluorescently Labeled Blood Cells in Danio rerio (Zebrafish)

Authors
Thapa, S., Stachura, D.L.
ID
ZDB-PUB-210821-6
Date
2021
Source
Bioinformatics and biology insights   15: 11779322211037770 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
YOLO, Zebrafish, deep learning, myeloid cells, quantitation of blood cells
MeSH Terms
none
PubMed
34413636 Full text @ Bioinform. Biol. Insights
Abstract
Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell essential for the function of the innate immune system. To elucidate mechanisms of neutrophil biology, many studies are performed in vertebrate animal model systems. In Danio rerio (zebrafish), in vivo imaging of neutrophils is possible due to transgenic strains that possess fluorescently labeled leukocytes. However, due to the relative abundance of neutrophils, the counting process is laborious and subjective. In this article, we propose the use of a custom trained "you only look once" (YOLO) machine learning algorithm to automate the identification and counting of fluorescently labeled neutrophils in zebrafish. Using this model, we found the correlation coefficient between human counting and the model equals r = 0.8207 with an 8.65% percent error, while variation among human counters was 5% to 12%. Importantly, the model was able to correctly validate results of a previously published article that quantitated neutrophils manually. While the accuracy can be further improved, this model notably achieves these results in mere minutes compared with hours via standard manual counting protocols and can be performed by anyone with basic programming knowledge. It further supports the use of deep learning models for high throughput analysis of fluorescently labeled blood cells in the zebrafish model system.
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Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
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