Analysis of Microscopic Images
A Gradient Vector Flow Based Approach
Duncan den Bakker (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)
Neil Budko – Mentor
Hans Kraaijevanger – Graduation committee member
Emiel van Elderen – Graduation committee member
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
The theory of active contours is applied to microscopic images of cells. A model is developed that approximates cell borders by dynamic curves. This model is based on gradient vector flow (GVF), an external force that acts on the contours. Both active contours and the GVF force field are defined as functions that minimize certain functionals. The corresponding Euler-Lagrange equations are derived and analyzed theoretically. A number of auxiliary algorithms are designed to aid the performance of the main snake algorithm, including a preprocessing algorithm, a method for detecting cell centers and an algorithm that detects areas devoid of cells. Results of the snake algorithm are presented, along with practical considerations regarding parameter choice. Finally, statistical methods are applied to the results to demonstrate their usefulness.