Behavior Imaging System of Fruit Flies (Drosophila melanogaster) in a Standard Food Vial
Disciplines
Computer-Aided Engineering and Design | Entomology | Mechanical Engineering
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) have long been a model organism in behavior studies due to their relatively simple nervous system and ability to exhibit complex behaviors. These insects have been utilized in research to study a range of behaviors, including circadian rhythms, learning and memory, aggression, courtship, and social behavior. However, one challenge in studying fruit fly behavior is the difficulty in long-term imaging due to the automated imaging system of their fly food vials. Previous methods have involved the use of specialized chambers for imaging, which proved impractical for long-term observation since the flies cannot survive for multiple days without food.
The objective of our project is to develop a behavior imaging system for fruit flies in a standard food vial (culture vial) to enable long-term observation. The standard food vial used in fruit fly research is a clear plastic cylindrical tube filled with a semi-solid nutrient medium at the bottom and topped with a foam stopper to prevent the flies from escaping while allowing air exchange. We designed our imaging system for the standard food vial using a machine vision camera and a near-infrared (NIR) light-emitting diode (LED). To account for the cylindrical shape of the tube, LEDs were placed on the top and bottom of the vial for dark-field imaging without hard light reflection. A machine vision camera was placed to image multiple vials at once. The camera produces a sequence of images, subtracted from a background image and binarized for blob analysis, thereby recording the position of each fly in each frame. To produce a track of each fly, we assign a fly from one frame to be the same fly in another frame. These tracks can then be analyzed for general activity, expressed as a single value for the swarm.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
SPCEET - Mechanical Engineering
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Dal Hyung Kim
Behavior Imaging System of Fruit Flies (Drosophila melanogaster) in a Standard Food Vial
Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) have long been a model organism in behavior studies due to their relatively simple nervous system and ability to exhibit complex behaviors. These insects have been utilized in research to study a range of behaviors, including circadian rhythms, learning and memory, aggression, courtship, and social behavior. However, one challenge in studying fruit fly behavior is the difficulty in long-term imaging due to the automated imaging system of their fly food vials. Previous methods have involved the use of specialized chambers for imaging, which proved impractical for long-term observation since the flies cannot survive for multiple days without food.
The objective of our project is to develop a behavior imaging system for fruit flies in a standard food vial (culture vial) to enable long-term observation. The standard food vial used in fruit fly research is a clear plastic cylindrical tube filled with a semi-solid nutrient medium at the bottom and topped with a foam stopper to prevent the flies from escaping while allowing air exchange. We designed our imaging system for the standard food vial using a machine vision camera and a near-infrared (NIR) light-emitting diode (LED). To account for the cylindrical shape of the tube, LEDs were placed on the top and bottom of the vial for dark-field imaging without hard light reflection. A machine vision camera was placed to image multiple vials at once. The camera produces a sequence of images, subtracted from a background image and binarized for blob analysis, thereby recording the position of each fly in each frame. To produce a track of each fly, we assign a fly from one frame to be the same fly in another frame. These tracks can then be analyzed for general activity, expressed as a single value for the swarm.