Simulating fluorescent microscope images of cell populations.

High-throughput cell measurement techniques producing images of cell populations have raised a need for accurate automated image analysis methods. Validating the analysis methods used for automated cytometry is an issue yet to be solved. Manual validation, being an exhaustively laborious task, enables comparison but does not provide solution for large scale analysis. By creating a parametric model for cell shape, and simulating images of cell populations including errors and aberrations caused by the measurement system, validation of different image analysis methods is enabled. As a result, studies with large populations, where the number of cells and many other key parameters are user-tunable, can be carried out by using simulated cell population images. The cell image simulator, as well as validation case studies for segmentation and image restoration are presented.