Direct measurement of the velocity of the metachronal wave in beating cilia.

Recently a computerized electro-optical method was developed which enables one to simultaneously measure the frequency and the wavelength of the metachronal waves in beating cilia. The method is based on measurement of scattered light from two areas at a given distance apart. The distance between measured areas can be varied from zero to hundreds of microns. The relative ease of the measurement and data analysis of this method enable one to create large statistical ensembles in order to obtain reliable averages. In this work we show that in addition to the previously mentioned parameters this system can measure directly the velocity of the metachronal wave. It was found that the average velocity in the tissue culture from frog's palate epithelium at room temperature is approximately 270 micron/sec, about twice the average particle velocity at the frog's palate.