Generating a statistical shape model of the AIDS virus spike

We introduce a method to automatically extract the spike features of the AIDS virus imaged through an electron microscope. This method detects the location of the spikes and extracts a sub-volume enclosing the spike with a sensitivity of 80%. The extracted spikes are further aligned and combined to build a 4D statistical shape model, where each voxel in the shape model is assigned a probability density function. This is a fully automated process that can extract sub-volumes of the AIDS virus spike making it possible to build a statistical model without the need for any user supervision. The AIDS virus spike is the primary target of drug design as it is directly involved in infecting host cells. We envision that this new tool will significantly enhance the overall process of shape analysis of the AIDS virus spike imaged through the electron microscope.