A boundary expansion method for analysis of cell neighborhoods and identification of cells in plant cross sectional images

Microscopic inspection of plant cross sections is widely used for identification of plants and assessing their suitability for specific applications. The inspection involves identification and evaluation of different types of tissues, cells, specialized cells and cell inclusions in plant cross section. The present paper describes a boundary expansion method based on image analysis and distance transform techniques suitable for detailed analysis of neighborhood of individual cells in plant cross sectional images. The proposed method involves expanding the boundary of a selected cell, analyzing the encroachment of the expanding boundary on the neighboring cells and determining the properties of the cell neighborhood and the neighboring cells relative to the boundary of the selected cell. The proposed method allows determination of identity and number of neighboring cells, spacings with neighboring cells and dimensions of neighboring cells parallel and perpendicular to the selected cell boundary. The method is useful for identification of certain types of plant cells exhibiting distinguishable properties of their neighbourhood and neighboring cells relative to the cell boundary. The usefulness of the proposed method is demonstrated for identification of xylem cells and mucilage ducts in plant cross sectional images.