Topological reconstruction of sub-cellular motion with Ensemble Kalman velocimetry

Abstract

Microscopy imaging of plant cells allows the elaborate analysis of sub-cellular motions of organelles. The large video data set can be efficiently analyzed by automated algorithms. We develop a novel, data-oriented algorithm, which can track organelle movements and reconstruct their trajectories on stacks of image data. Our method proceeds with three steps: (ⅰ) identification, (ⅱ) localization, and (ⅲ) linking. This method combines topological data analysis and Ensemble Kalman Filtering, and does not assume a specific motion model. Application of this method on simulated data sets shows an agreement with ground truth. We also successfully test our method on real microscopy data.