Biology of the Cell, 2025 · DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/boc.70001 · Published: March 4, 2025
Collagen is a vital protein in mammals, crucial for maintaining tissue structure. Problems in collagen fiber arrangement can lead to diseases like cancer or fibrosis, as seen in spinal cord injuries where scar tissue forms. Current methods for analyzing collagen fibers in images, like the curvelet transform (CT), are complex for undergrowth collagen fibers (newly forming fibers). This paper presents a new fingerprint enhancement (FP-E) algorithm for better collagen detection. It requires fewer user inputs and is faster than existing methods.
The FP-E algorithm provides a simpler and faster method for analyzing undergrowth collagen fibers, which is crucial for understanding tissue reorganization in diseases like cancer and fibrosis.
The FP-E method facilitates the identification of fibrillar collagen as a potential biomarker in diseases where fibers are under development, aiding in diagnostics and prognostics.
The quantification of collagen changes using FP-E can help assess the effectiveness of clinical treatments targeting fibrillar collagen, leading to better therapeutic strategies.