Estimation of red blood cell aggregate velocity during sedimentation using the Hough transform

A method for velocity estimation of sedimenting three-dimensional (3D) red blood cell (RBC) aggregates by means of an image processing technique is proposed. Successive images of RBC suspension near the wall of a container reveal rouleaux formation, sedimentation of 3D RBC aggregates and formation of the deposit of the cells. Plots of the position versus time for the 3D RBC aggregates were extracted by a processing of successive images of the suspension. The plots exhibit a quasi-linear structures in noisy background. With the use of the Hough transform the detection of the slope of the structures was performed and the velocity of the aggregates was estimated. To show the potential of the method spatio-temporal dependence of the aggregate velocity is presented for RBCs in plasma, RBCs in Dextran and for hardened cells at haematocrit 5%.