Measuring cellular migration with image processing

An image-processing algorithm for analysis of migration of vascular endothelial cells in culture is presented. The algorithm correctly detected the cellular regions on either side of an artificial ´wound´ made by dragging a sterile pipette tip across the monolayer of cells (scratch wound assay). Frequency filtering and mathematical morphology were used to approximate the boundaries of cellular regions. This allowed measurement of the distance between the regions, and therefore the migration rates, regardless of the orientation of the wound and even in cases where the cells were sparse and not tightly packed.