Three-dimensional Particle Tracking Method Research Articles

General defocusing particle tracking: fundamentals and uncertainty assessment

General Defocusing Particle Tracking (GDPT) is a single-camera, three-dimensional particle tracking method that determines the particle depth positions from the defocusing patterns of the corresponding particle images. GDPT relies on a reference set of experimental particle images which is used to predict the depth position of measured particle images of similar shape. While several implementations of the method are possible, its accuracy is ultimately limited by some intrinsic properties of the acquired data, such as the signal-to-noise ratio, the particle concentration, as well as the characteristics of the defocusing patterns. GDPT has been applied in different fields by different research groups, however, a deeper description and analysis of the method fundamentals has hitherto not been available. In this work, we first identity the fundamental elements that characterize a GDPT measurement. Afterwards, we present a standardized framework based on synthetic images to assess the performance of GDPT implementations in terms of measurement uncertainty and relative number of measured particles. Finally, we provide guidelines to assess the uncertainty of experimental GDPT measurements, where true values are not accessible and additional image aberrations can lead to bias errors. The data were processed using DefocusTracker, an open-source GDPT software. The datasets were created using the synthetic image generator MicroSIG and have been shared in a freely-accessible repository.

Potential impact of ocean circulation on the declining Japanese eel catches

Recruitment of Japanese eels, Anguilla japonica, has declined in recent decades possibly due to both anthropogenic and ocean-atmosphere factors. The potential impact of ocean circulation on the decreasing Japanese eel catches in the western North Pacific was examined based on a three-dimensional particle-tracking method, in which virtual larvae (v-larvae) were programmed to swim horizontally and vertically, in addition to being transported by ocean currents after being released in their North Equatorial Current (NEC) spawning area. Transport patterns varied among years between 1993 and 2013, and dispersion of v-larvae towards East Asia decreased in the last two decades, especially for the western Taiwan and Japan regions. In recent years, instead of entering the Kuroshio and moving towards East Asia as in the 1990s’, more v-larvae tended to enter the southern areas due to the weakening of the NEC and strengthening of subsurface southward flow near the spawning area. Changes in ocean circulation in the western Pacific appear to be caused by the weakening of subtropical and tropical wind stress curl in the past two decades. This suggests that decadal changes in ocean circulation have occurred that affect the larval migration success of the Japanese eel to their recruitment areas.

On the role of initial velocities in pair dispersion in a microfluidic chaotic flow

Chaotic flows drive mixing and efficient transport in fluids, as well as the associated beautiful complex patterns familiar to us from our every day life experience. Generating such flows at small scales where viscosity takes over is highly challenging from both the theoretical and engineering perspectives. This can be overcome by introducing a minuscule amount of long flexible polymers, resulting in a chaotic flow dubbed ‘elastic turbulence’. At the basis of the theoretical frameworks for its study lie the assumptions of a spatially smooth and random-in-time velocity field. Previous measurements of elastic turbulence have been limited to two-dimensions. Using a novel three-dimensional particle tracking method, we conduct a microfluidic experiment, allowing us to explore elastic turbulence from the perspective of particles moving with the flow. Our findings show that the smoothness assumption breaks already at scales smaller than a tenth of the system size. Moreover, we provide conclusive experimental evidence that ‘ballistic’ separation prevails in the dynamics of pairs of tracers over long times and distances, exhibiting a memory of the initial separation velocities. The ballistic dispersion is universal, yet it has been overlooked so far in the context of small scales chaotic flows.

Dual-color multiple-particle tracking at 50-nm localization and over 100-µm range in 3D with temporal focusing two-photon microscopy.

Nanoscale particle tracking in three dimensions is crucial to directly observe dynamics of molecules and nanoparticles in living cells. Here we present a three-dimensional particle tracking method based on temporally focused two-photon excitation. Multiple particles are imaged at 30 frames/s in volume up to 180 × 180 × 100 µm3. The spatial localization precision can reach 50 nm. We demonstrate its capability of tracking fast swimming microbes at speed of ~200 µm/s. Two-photon dual-color tracking is achieved by simultaneously exciting two kinds of fluorescent beads at 800 nm to demonstrate its potential in molecular interaction studies. Our method provides a simple wide-field fluorescence imaging approach for deep multiple-particle tracking.

Three-dimensional measurements of vortex breakdown

Leading-edge vortex formation and breakdown have been measured over a periodically plunging non-slender delta wing at a high angle of attack, using a three-dimensional particle-tracking method. A very rare type of vortex breakdown in the form of a double helix has been captured in the phase-averaged flow at a specific phase of the oscillation cycle.

Liquid flow pattern around Taylor bubbles in an etched rectangular microchannel

Liquid flow around Taylor bubbles and the motion of bubble interface in a rectangular microchannel etched on a microfluidic chip were investigated using a three-dimensional particle tracking method. The Taylor bubbles were generated by releasing the dissolved air in working the liquid (water) through heating the microfluidic chip to 35–55°C and had low velocities (15–1500μm/s). Three-dimensional velocity distributions of liquid recirculation flows surrounding the Taylor bubble head and tail were obtained by tracking submicron fluorescent particles seeded in the working liquid and the motion of the bubble interface was analyzed by monitoring the motions of the particles attached on the bubble interface. The high velocity film flow through the microchannel corners acted as a liquid jet in front of bubble head and drainage into the corners behind the bubble tail to drive the liquid recirculation flows. The bubble interface near the microchannel corners was also moved by the strong liquid shear induced from the high velocity liquid flow in the microchannel corners. This high velocity liquid flow through the corners could be considered to be driven by the pressure drop over the Taylor bubble. The pressure drop resulted from the decrease of bubble surface mobility due to tracer surfactant in the gas–liquid interface.

Three-dimensional particle tracking method using FPGA-based real-time image processing and four-view image splitter

We present a cost-effective solution of the three-dimensional particle tracking velocimetry (3D-PTV) system based on the real-time image processing method (Kreizer et al. Exp Fluids 48:105–110, 2010) and a four-view image splitter. The image processing algorithm, based on the intensity threshold and intensity gradients estimated using the fixed-size Sobel kernel, is implemented on the field-programmable gate array integrated into the camera electronics. It enables extracting positions of tracked objects, such as tracers or large particles, in real time. The second major component of this system is a four-view split-screen device that provides four views of the observation volume from different angles. An open-source ray-tracing software package allows for a customized optical setup for the given experimental settings of working distances and camera parameters. The specific design enables tracking in larger observation volumes when compared to the designs published up to date. The present cost-effective solution is complemented with open-source particle tracking software that receives raw data acquired by the real-time image processing system and returns trajectories of the identified particles. The combination of these components simplifies the 3D-PTV technique by reducing the size and increasing recording speed and storage capabilities. The system is capable to track a multitude of particles at high speed and stream the data over the computer network. The system can provide a solution for the remotely controlled tracking experiments, such as in microgravity, underwater or in applications with harsh experimental conditions.

A three-dimensional particle tracking method for bubbly flow simulation

A numerical method for solving a three-dimensional bubbly flow was proposed. The method is based on a two-way particle tracking method, which takes into account the effect of bubbles on the liquid phase and vice versa. In order to demonstrate the potential of the method, laminar bubbly upflow in a vertical duct was simulated using the Eötvös number and bubble size distribution as parameters. As a result, we could obtain typical bubble distributions in a bubbly flow and a void wave in the flow direction as well. It was also confirmed that the method can give good predictions for bubble-induced liquid velocity fields, provided that the bubble size is greater than the size of the computational cell for calculating the liquid phase.