Three-dimensional enhancement of confocal scanning laser fluorescence microscope images for vascular reconstruction

This paper presents a fast method for enhancing the images of the vascular network of zebrafish embryo from confocal scanning laser microscope (CSLM) stained with fluorescent probe. Specifically, we split the 3D enhancement process into two separate stages and adopt different methods respectively to deconvolve the lateral and optical directions in the observed images. The resulting algorithm increased both lateral and optical resolution and decreased the out of focus light of the images. The enhanced volumetric image is characterized by an improvement both in contrast and edge definition. The algorithm can be efficiently implemented on a general PC and the computation time is small even for the case of large volume of images. The value of the method for enhancing fluorescence images of biological objects is demonstrated by a comparison of the results of 3D vascular reconstruction.