Abstract
Two-dimensional moments are useful for describing the size, location, orientation and shape of isolated cells in culture. Physical moments can characterise the distribution of matter (dry mass) within the cell whereas geometrical moments can characterise the geometrical properties of the cell outline. Here we describe the calculation of geometrical moments from either digitised images or outlines of isolated cells. We explain why the lower orders of moments are a useful summary of cell shape and how two interpretable shape factors, elongation and dispersion, can be derived from these. These shape factors appear to have a biological significance since certain experimental treatments can affect either one without affecting the other. Finally, we briefly discuss how the higher orders of moments may be used to describe cell shape in more detail and we speculate on the use of third order moments for detecting any asymmetry in cell shape that may be induced by chemotactic gradients.
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© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Dunn, G.A., Brown, A.F. (1990). Quantifying Cellular Shape Using Moment Invariants. In: Alt, W., Hoffmann, G. (eds) Biological Motion. Lecture Notes in Biomathematics, vol 89. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-51664-1_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-51664-1_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-53520-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-51664-1
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