THE LI LABORATORY
Department of Biology
Center for Biological Clocks Research
Texas A&M University
A Long-term Drosophila Body Mass Measurement System
In this study, led by our Research Engineer, Yangyuan Li, we propose a novel system for long-term monitoring of Drosophila body mass. In this approach, a cantilever beam is placed inside a Drosophila culture vial and undergoes random vibrations induced by Drosophila landings. An infrared camera connected to a microcomputer records these vibrations. Image processing techniques then extract the beam's vibration signals from the video recordings. Applying the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, we calculate the Drosophila body mass. As a demonstration, we used this system to measure body mass variations in wild-type Drosophila over 14 days.
Among all physiological parameters that reflect health, body mass is one of the most fundamental and widely used. However, accurately monitoring animal’s body mass is far from trivial. We humans are asked to step on a scale during every physical examination, and some diligently watch their weight at home multiple times a day. Similarly, measuring the body mass of animals in research typically requires repeated manual measurements and physical restraint of animals. Measuring the body mass of a tiny fruit fly is particularly challenging, requiring instruments with high sensitivity and precision over repeated measurements.
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We believe we have come up with a very clever novel solution. This method presents a novel design for body mass measurement that combines vibration theories and image processing techniques in a cost-effective and scalable format. While optimized for Drosophila, the system is also applicable for measuring the body mass of other model animals. Its ability to provide long-term, non-invasive monitoring of any animal’s body mass opens exciting possibilities for studies in feeding, nutrition, sleep, aging, behavior, and many other areas.
An example of tracking wild-type Drosophila