Optical Projection Tomography of Vertebrate Embryo Development

This article includes a brief introduction to optical projection tomography (OPT) as amethod for imaging whole vertebrate embryos. To place OPT in its proper context within the field of three-dimensional (3D) embryo imaging, the article starts with a brief overview of the previously existing techniques, both destructive and nondestructive. Next is a description of how OPT works and its advantages over other approaches. Two practical sections are then presented that consider the applications of OPT and how to get the best results from OPT in terms of specimen preparation and imaging modes.