Realistic optical cell modeling and diffraction imaging simulation for study of optical and morphological parameters of nucleus

• Published in: Optics express Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 366 - 377
• Main Authors: Zhang, Jun, Feng, Yuanming, Jiang, Wehnhuan, Lu, Jun Q, Sa, Yu, Ding, Junhua, Hu, Xin-Hua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 11.01.2016
• Subjects: Cell Nucleus - physiology; Cell Nucleus - ultrastructure; Cell Size; Cells, Cultured; Computer Simulation; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted - methods; Microscopy, Confocal - methods; Microscopy, Fluorescence - methods; Models, Biological; Refractometry - methods; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity
• ISSN: 1094-4087; 1094-4087
• DOI: 10.1364/OE.24.000366

Coherent light scattering presents complex spatial patterns that depend on morphological and molecular features of biological cells. We present a numerical approach to establish realistic optical cell models for generating virtual cells and accurate simulation of diffraction images that are comparable to measured data of prostate cells. With a contourlet transform algorithm, it has been shown that the simulated images and extracted parameters can be used to distinguish virtual cells of different nuclear volumes and refractive indices against the orientation variation. These results demonstrate significance of the new approach for development of rapid cell assay methods through diffraction imaging.