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xySpark

xySpark is a plugin for ImageJ that allows automatic detection and analysis (amplitude, width, frequency, duration and mass) of Ca2+ sparks in x-y confocal image stacks, implemented as a plugin for ImageJ/Fiji. It employs a conventional thresholding algorithm, similar to that described for use with line-scan images (e.g. Cheng et al. "Amplitude distribution of calcium sparks in confocal images: theory and studies with an automatic detection method." Biophysical Journal 76.2 (1999): 606-617; Picht et al. "SparkMaster: automated calcium spark analysis with ImageJ." American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology 293 (2007): C1073-C1081).

xySpark provides an interactive graphical user interface and includes methods to enable accurate identification of cells within confocal fluorescence images, compensation for slow changes in background fluorescence during data collection and options that allow exclusion of aberrant events based on spatial characteristics.