On 2.5D surface reconstruction of cell cultures

The domain of image processing for cell microscopy presents non-trivial challenges that must be addressed for consistent image quality. One such challenge concerns the loss of focus as a result of cellular processes, where cell objects may move or change their morphology and, as a result, lie outside of the depth-of-view of the lens. This paper presents two approaches to addressing this problem; namely, the multiscale and geometric methods of image depth estimation. These algorithms are applied to a z-stack of images acquired from a standard phase contrast microscope and a total internal reflection microscope. To assess the algorithms in terms of their scalability, 10×, 20×, and 60× lens objectives are used to offer increased spatial resolutions as well as corresponding improvements in image quality.