Three-Dimensional Shape Estimation of BHK Cell Clusters from a Still Image Based on Shape from Shading for In-SITU Microscopy

In this contribution, the Lee and Rosenfeld´s local shape from shading (SFS) algorithm, the Tsai and Shah´s linear SFS algorithm and the Bichsel and Pentland´s propagation SFS algorithm are investigated with the aim of selecting the most suitable for three-dimensional shape estimation of clusters of mammalian baby hamster kidney cells (BHK cells) from an intensity image captured by an in-situ microscope in an industrial mammalian cell culture process. All three were implemented and tested using several thousand intensity images captured under varying experimental conditions. The Bichsel and Pentland´s SFS algorithm was finally selected as the most suitable algorithm for three-dimensional shape estimation of BHK cell clusters. It is fast and provides less noise and more detailed depth estimates and therefore the best overall performance