Electrospun fiber alignment using the Radon Transform

摘要

Aligned, electrospun fibers have been used in a wide variety of applications from filters to scaffolds for tissue engineering. In this study we demonstrate a quick and accurate method to quantify fiber alignment using the Radon Transform. To test the accuracy of this method, we generated mock images fibers with varying degrees of fiber alignment. Images were filtered to detect edges and analyzed with the Radon Transform from 1 to 180 degrees at 1 degree intervals. The absolute values of each column were summed and used to create a normalized probability distribution function. The probability distribution function was quantified using both the full width half- maximum (FWHM) and calculating the entropy of the function. These results were compared to an analysis method using the fast Fourier transform. The FWHM for the Radon transform was consistent and statistically different at all fiber orientations for different degrees of fiber variation. Both the entropy analysis for the Radon transform and the FWHM for the fast Fourier transform did not show statistical difference. The FWHM method for the radon transform was performed on electrospun fibers and showed statistical difference between two groups known to be statistically different by manual analysis.