Application Note: μPolar - An Interactive 2D Visualization Tool for Microscopic Time-Series Images

Time-lapse microscopy is an effective research tool to monitor cell behavior and cell divisions. Recent advances in microfluidics have accelerated the adoption of time-lapse microscopy in research. However, it is challenging to visualize and interpret the time-series data gathered through time-lapse microscopy. We have developed a circular plotting software tool, μPolar, to visualize the trends and patterns of the cell movements and cell division events in a time-series. μPolar is interactive and easy to use. We demonstrate the utility of μPolar by visualizing the events of dividing yeast cells where cell divisions lead to oscillating plotting patterns, and in migrating mouse fibroblasts where cell shapes change during the migration. μPolar potentially could be applied to other types of time-series of microscopic images. This R package μPolar is available through GitHub.