Pro or Cons local vs. global imagery information for identifying cell migratory potential

Cell migration is a complex process involving adhesion, anchorage and de-adhesion. It is also a reliable indicator of the outcome of cancer. Can a migratory cell behavior be reliably associated to a cell morphology? In the favourable case, it could become a visual indicator when coupled with image analyzis. In this work, microscopy images is much use to characterize the morphology of cells placed in various environments. Features were processed and cells were classified taking into account the biological expertise. Linking these results to experimental parameters and in vitro data, we proposed to evaluate the cell migratory potential. The results give the expert new insights into the most useful features and show the feasability of an automated inspection system. A less common aspect is discussed throughout the paper regarding the relevance of the local (cell image) or global (whole image) information processing.