Image Processing System Based on Mesh Technology for Cell Kinematic Measurement

A characterization system has been developed for kinematic measurements on cardiac spheroid (CS), utilizing a graphical programming environment. The system applies the threshold segmentation method to a Region of Interest (ROI), which analyses the 8-bit grayscale image, relating the intensity of the pixels with a pre-set value called “threshold”to cluster the pixels into bright and dark groups. A reference frame is selected to compare with the other images in the sequence to measure the percentage of pixel change. The Mesh ROI technique is applied which divides the selected area into a mesh of smaller rectangular shapes. From each sub-ROI of a spheroid, it is possible to study the part where the contraction wave starts, which is more advantageous than the standard method. The proposed software is divided into four main subroutines: image access and template selection, threshold tracking, Region of Interest identification, and kinematic evaluation. The system validation was performed with a high-speed camera with a frame rate of 150 fps to acquire video-kinematics of the spheroid motion. The results show a high-quality kinematic evaluation where the moving part of the spheroid is calculated and demonstrated on the plot proportionally.