Towards automatic cell identification in DIC microscopy

A general method is proposed for constructing templates of cells in differe ntial interference contrast (DIC) microscopy. This takes account of the opt ics which generate DIC images, and is applicable to both transparent and se mi-transparent cells of simple and complex shapes. Then, a template matchin g methodology is presented, which uses fast Fourier transforms to fit templ ates of a range of sizes and orientations to images. For illustration, this is used to automatically identify and measure individual Candida yeast cel ls in clusters.