title: Summarizing the motion of self-propelled cells: applications to sperm motility.
abstract: Proper characterization of the motion of spermatozoa is an important prerequisite for interpreting differences in sperm motility that might arise from exposure to toxicants. Patterns of sperm movement can be extremely complex. On the basis of an exponential model that relates the discretely approximated curvilinear velocity to the tracking rate, we develop a statistic that indexes the predictability of the path for individual sperm. We summarize the path of each sperm using this and two other statistics: (1) the path displacement velocity and (2) linearity of movement. We apply the method to a set of rat sperm tracks representative of both normal and abnormal motion characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics Branch, NIEHS, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, USA. dunson1@niehs.nih.gov
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Dunson
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Weinberg
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Perreault
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Chapin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001699:Biometry; D002465:Cell Movement; D003201:Computers; D017709:Fractals; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D051381:Rats; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000002:abnormalities