Spectral characterization of ciliary beating: variations of frequency with time.
Ciliary beating frequency in tissue culture from frog palate and isolated lung was optically examined using instrumentation that was adjusted to measure a fraction of the surface area of a single ciliary cell. Consecutive 1-s segments of the analogue signal were fast Fourier transformed (FFT) to obtain a power spectrum. At room temperature, these power spectra changed over time from 1 s to the next. Each spectrum contained several dominant frequencies of similar intensities. Cooling the preparation resulted in a single-peak spectrum that was constant over time. A mathematical model is proposed to simulate these findings. The results and the mathematical model support the hypothesis that ciliary beating frequency fluctuates over short periods of time.
D000818:Animals; D002923:Cilia / Q000502:physiology*; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008168:Lung / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation; D008954:Models, Biological; D009068:Movement; D010159:Palate / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011895:Rana ridibunda; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors