Automated morphological feature assessment for zebrafish embryo developmental toxicity screens

Detection of developmental phenotypes in zebrafish embryos typically involves a visual assessment and scoring of morphological features by an individual researcher. Subjective scoring could impact results and be of particular concern when phenotypic effect patterns are also used as a diagnostic tool to classify compounds. Here we introduce a quantitative morphometric approach based on image analysis of zebrafish embryos. A software called FishInspector was developed to detect morphological features from images collected using an automated system to position zebrafish embryos. The analysis was verified and compared with visual assessments of 3 participating laboratories using 3 known developmental toxicants (methotrexate, dexamethasone, and topiramate) and 2 negative compounds (loratadine and glibenclamide). The quantitative approach exhibited higher sensitivity and made it possible to compare patterns of effects with the potential to establish a grouping and classification of developmental toxicants. Our approach improves the robustness of phenotype scoring and reliability of assay performance and, hence, is anticipated to improve the predictivity of developmental toxicity screening using the zebrafish embryo

KNIME workflow to evaluate morphological features using the FishInspector software

This workflow allows to measure morphological features of zebrafish larvae (48hpf or 96 hpf) using the output file (json format) from the FishInspector software. The file should be imported to the KNIME open source analytical platform

Heart rate analysis zebrafish

This workflow allows to measure the heart frequence of zebrafih larvae from videos obtained with the VAST BioImager system. The workflow should be imported to the KNIME open analytical platform

Output raw data

Contains the output data (morphometric parameters, mean traveled distance -LMR- and heart rate) obtained from image analysis from embryos exposed to the chemicals as described in the article

KNIME workflow to evaluate morphological features using the FishInspector software

This workflow allows to measure morphological features of zebrafish larvae (48hpf or 96 hpf) using the output file (json format) from the FishInspector software. The file should be imported to the KNIME open source analytical platform

Knime workflow to rotate and crop zebrafish images

This workflow automatically rotates, crop the images and draws a virtual capillary based on a ImageJ macro.The workflow can easily be adapted to accommodate different image properties depending on the source of the image (e.g. intensity, contrast)

Data from: Automated morphological feature assessment for zebrafish embryo developmental toxicity screens

Detection of developmental phenotypes in zebrafish embryos typically involves a visual assessment and scoring of morphological features by an individual researcher. Subjective scoring could impact results and be of particular concern when phenotypic effect patterns are also used as a diagnostic tool to classify compounds. Here we introduce a quantitative morphometric approach based on image analysis of zebrafish embryos. A software called FishInspector was developed to detect morphological features from images collected using an automated system to position zebrafish embryos. The analysis was verified and compared with visual assessments of three participating laboratories using three known developmental toxicants (methotrexate, dexamethasone and topiramate) and two negative compounds (loratadine and glibenclamide). The quantitative approach exhibited higher sensitivity and made it possible to compare patterns of effects with the potential to establish a grouping and classification of developmental toxicants. Our approach improves the robustness of phenotype scoring and reliability of assay performance and, hence, is anticipated to improve the predictivity of developmental toxicity screening using the zebrafish embryo

Knime workflow to rotate and crop zebrafish images

This workflow automatically rotates, crop the images and draws a virtual capillary based on a ImageJ macro.The workflow can easily be adapted to accommodate different image properties depending on the source of the image (e.g. intensity, contrast)

Data from: Automated morphological feature assessment for zebrafish embryo developmental toxicity screens

Detection of developmental phenotypes in zebrafish embryos typically involves a visual assessment and scoring of morphological features by an individual researcher. Subjective scoring could impact results and be of particular concern when phenotypic effect patterns are also used as a diagnostic tool to classify compounds. Here we introduce a quantitative morphometric approach based on image analysis of zebrafish embryos. A software called FishInspector was developed to detect morphological features from images collected using an automated system to position zebrafish embryos. The analysis was verified and compared with visual assessments of three participating laboratories using three known developmental toxicants (methotrexate, dexamethasone and topiramate) and two negative compounds (loratadine and glibenclamide). The quantitative approach exhibited higher sensitivity and made it possible to compare patterns of effects with the potential to establish a grouping and classification of developmental toxicants. Our approach improves the robustness of phenotype scoring and reliability of assay performance and, hence, is anticipated to improve the predictivity of developmental toxicity screening using the zebrafish embryo

Data from: Automated morphological feature assessment for zebrafish embryo developmental toxicity screens

Detection of developmental phenotypes in zebrafish embryos typically involves a visual assessment and scoring of morphological features by an individual researcher. Subjective scoring could impact results and be of particular concern when phenotypic effect patterns are also used as a diagnostic tool to classify compounds. Here we introduce a quantitative morphometric approach based on image analysis of zebrafish embryos. A software called FishInspector was developed to detect morphological features from images collected using an automated system to position zebrafish embryos. The analysis was verified and compared with visual assessments of three participating laboratories using three known developmental toxicants (methotrexate, dexamethasone and topiramate) and two negative compounds (loratadine and glibenclamide). The quantitative approach exhibited higher sensitivity and made it possible to compare patterns of effects with the potential to establish a grouping and classification of developmental toxicants. Our approach improves the robustness of phenotype scoring and reliability of assay performance and, hence, is anticipated to improve the predictivity of developmental toxicity screening using the zebrafish embryo