title: Analysis of orientations of collagen fibers by novel fiber-tracking software.
abstract: Recent evidence supports the notion that biological functions of extracellular matrix (ECM) are highly correlated to not only its composition but also its structure. This article integrates confocal microscopy imaging and image-processing techniques to analyze the microstructural properties of ECM. This report describes a two- and three-dimensional fiber middle-line tracing algorithm that may be used to quantify collagen fibril organization. We utilized computer simulation and statistical analysis to validate the developed algorithm. These algorithms were applied to confocal images of collagen gels made with reconstituted bovine collagen type I, to demonstrate the computation of orientations of individual fibers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Bartłomiej
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rajwa
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Filmer
authors.forename: Christoph M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Ching-Shoei
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: Jennie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sturgis
authors.forename: J Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Robinson
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012867:Skin / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012984:Software
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen