Cell Mapping: Tracking Cell Splits and Merges
in Large-Scale Evolving Structures
Jo Ann Withers
(withers@uthscsa.edu)
Division of Computer Science
The University of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas 78249
Abstract
This thesis describes an efficient method for mapping histories of
large-scale evolving structures, particularly cell-like structures
which split and merge, and visualizing their evolution over extended
periods of time. Using a two-tiered approach, the details of cell
activity are accumulated during a mapping process and then visualized in
an animation that temporally portrays the splits and merges detected
during mapping. This methodology provides a tool in
understanding the underlying phenomena associated with pattern formations
which break symmetry.
Previous attempts to analyze these types of pattern formations
were stymied because of the requirement
to manually track the evolutionary process
or because of the need to retain large image files and perform complex
computations. The techniques detailed in this thesis
are applicable to academic and industrial problem domains because of their
efficiency and portability.