Machine Learning Tracks Moving Cells

Intriguing kind of application.  See the image at the link for a visual description of the idea. 

Machine Learning Tracks Moving Cells
by Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University in RDMag

Usiigaci, a software developed by the Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, allows users to easily segment, track and analyze the migration of label-free cells. The tool can be used as an all-in-one solution to quantify cell migration, or can be employed as three separate applications (ie for segmentation, tracking, and data analysis, respectively). Using the machine learning infrastructure known as a 'neural network,' the system allows users to train it on different data sets and analyzes images as a simplified human brain would. Credit: OIST

Both developing babies and elderly adults share a common characteristic: the many cells making up their bodies are always on the move. As we humans commute to work, cells migrate through the body to get their jobs done. Biologists have long struggled to quantify the movement and changing morphology of cells through time, but now, scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have devised an elegant tool to do just that.

Using machine learning, the researchers designed a software to analyze microscopic snapshots of migrating cells. They named the software Usiigaci, a Ryukyuan word that refers to tracing the outlines of objects, as the innovative tool detects the changing outlines of individual cells. Usiigaci, described in a paper published March 13, 2019 in SoftwareX, is now available online for anyone to use, along with a video tutorial explaining the software.  .... "