Three-dimensional tracing of neurites in fluorescence microscopy images using local path-finding

Neurite tracing in 3D neuron images is important when it comes to analysing the growth and functionality of nerve cells. The methods used today are either of high complexity, limiting throughput, or semi-automatic, i.e., requiring user interaction. This makes them unsuitable for analysis where high throughput is needed. In this work we propose a method designed for low complexity and void of user interaction by using local path-finding. The method is illustrated on both phantom and real data, and compared with a widely used commercial software package with promising results.