Fourier optical approach to the extraction of morphological parameters from the diffraction pattern of biological cells.

A new procedure for fast quantitative extraction of cell parameters from diffraction patterns was deduced from model calculations and applied to cervical gynecological material. Based on radial scans of the diffraction pattern, the technique permits simultaneous determination of the nuclear and cytoplasmic diameters by Fourier analysis of the radial scanning signals after compensation for the intensity falloff by an amplification proportional to the third power of the radial position in the diffraction plane. Illustrative examples of measurements on exfoliated cells of different types are presented.