EDGE-DETECTION AT MULTIPLE LOCATIONS USING A RADAR TRACKING ALGORITHMAS EXEMPLIFIED IN ISOLATED GUINEA-PIG LYMPHATIC VESSELS

An algorithm based on the Kalman filter and used for tracking a target in a noisy environment has been applied to monitoring the position of moving boundaries as recorded by a video camera. The method, termed t he Probabilistic Data Association Filter, is computationally efficient , allowing simultaneous monitoring at many positions along the boundar y at video frame rates of 25 Hz. The present study uses the tracking p rocedure to investigate and correlate constrictions along lymphatic ve ssels. The procedure is well suited for real time tracking of visualis ed biological events including the simultaneous monitoring of constric tions in networks of blood vessels, the movement of cells or the traje ctory of intracellular events monitored by intracellular fluorescent m arkers.