Extraction of morphological features from biological models and cells by Fourier analysis of static light scatter...

Models of biological cells of varying geometric complexity were used to generate data to test a method of extracting geometric features from light scatter distributions. Measurements of the dynamic range and angular distribution of intensity and light scatter from these models was compared to the distributions predicted by a complete theory of light scatter (Mie) and by diffraction theory (Fraunhofer). An approximation to the Fraunhofer theory provides a means of obtaining size and shape features from the data by a spectrum analysis. Experimental verification using nucleated erythrocytes as the biological material show the potential application of this method for the extraction of important size and shape parameters from light scatter data.