Our goal is to develop a system for automated extraction of biologically relevant information from video sequences of live cells. The information sought includes time to divide and die, the patterns of growth, changes in appearance, patterns of motion and association and development state over multiple generations of cells.
The project is a collaboration with the Hodgkin Lab at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI). The Hodgkin Lab uses video microscopy to inform models of lymphocyte proliferation. Analysis and annotation of these microscope videos is currently labour-intensive; the goal of this project is to automate this part of the experimental work flow. In doing so, we hope to develop a Microscopic Image and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) platform that will have wider application in other microscope-based biological studies.