title: Calcium (Ca2+) waves data calibration and analysis using image processing techniques.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Calcium (Ca2+) propagates within tissues serving as an important information carrier. In particular, cilia beat frequency in oviduct cells is partially regulated by Ca2+ changes. Thus, measuring the calcium density and characterizing the traveling wave plays a key role in understanding biological phenomena. However, current methods to measure propagation velocities and other wave characteristics involve several manual or time-consuming procedures. This limits the amount of information that can be extracted, and the statistical quality of the analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our work provides a framework based on image processing procedures that enables a fast, automatic and robust characterization of data from two-filter fluorescence Ca2+ experiments. We calculate the mean velocity of the wave-front, and use theoretical models to extract meaningful parameters like wave amplitude, decay rate and time of excitation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Measurements done by different operators showed a high degree of reproducibility. This framework is also extended to a single filter fluorescence experiments, allowing higher sampling rates, and thus an increased accuracy in velocity measurements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. cmilovic@puc.cl
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Milovic
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oses
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Villalón
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uribe
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lizama
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Prieto
authors.forename: Marcelo E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Andia
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Irarrazaval
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tejos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000032:analysis*; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D002138:Calibration; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D051381:Rats; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium