TeraVR Empowers Precise Reconstruction of Complete 3-D Neuronal Morphology in the Whole Brain

Yimin Wang; Lijuan Liu; Lijuan Liu; Zhi Zhou; Zongcai Ruan; Lingsheng Kong; Yaoyao Li; Yun Wang; Ning Zhong; Renjie Chai; Xiangfeng Luo; Yike Guo; Michael Hawrylycz; Qingming Luo; Zhongze Gu; Wei Xie; Hongkui Zeng; Hanchuan Peng

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-11443-y

NeuroscienceNature CommunicationsAug 2, 2019

Peer-reviewed journal article

TeraVR Empowers Precise Reconstruction of Complete 3-D Neuronal Morphology in the Whole Brain

Yimin Wang iD, Lijuan Liu iD, Lijuan Liu, Zhi Zhou iD, Zongcai Ruan iD, Lingsheng Kong, Yaoyao Li iD, Yun Wang, Ning Zhong iD, Renjie Chai iD, Xiangfeng Luo, Yike Guo iD, Michael Hawrylycz iD, Qingming Luo iD, Zhongze Gu iD, Wei Xie iD, Hongkui Zeng iD, Hanchuan Peng iD

Abstract

Neuron morphology is recognized as a key determinant of cell type, yet the quantitative profiling of a mammalian neurons complete three-dimensional (3-D) morphology remains arduous when the neuron has complex arborization and long projection. Whole-brain reconstruction of neuron morphology is even more challenging as it involves processing tens of teravoxels of imaging data. Validating such reconstructions is extremely laborious. We developed TeraVR, an open-source virtual reality annotation system, to address these challenges. TeraVR integrates immersive and collaborative 3-D visualization, interaction, and hierarchical streaming of teravoxel-scale images. Using TeraVR, we produced precise 3-D full morphology of long-projecting neurons in whole mouse brains and developed a collaborative workflow for highly accurate neuronal reconstruction.

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