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A new automatic contact point detection algorithm for AFM force curves
Author(s) -
BenÍtez Rafael,
Morenoflores Susana,
BolÓs Vicente J.,
TocaHerrera JosÉ Luis
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
microscopy research and technique
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1097-0029
pISSN - 1059-910X
DOI - 10.1002/jemt.22241
Subject(s) - indentation , algorithm , point (geometry) , atomic force microscopy , computer science , mathematics , materials science , geometry , nanotechnology , programming language
ABSTRACT A new method for estimating the contact point in AFM force curves, based on a local regression algorithm, is presented. The main advantage of this method is that can be easily implemented as a computer algorithm and used for a fully automatic detection of the contact points in the approach force curves on living cells. The estimated contact points have been compared to those obtained by other published methods, which were applied either for materials with an elastic response to indentation forces or for experiments at high loading rates. We have found that the differences in the values of the contact points estimated with three different methods were not statistically significant and thus the algorithm is reliable. Also, we test the convenience of the algorithm for batch‐processing by computing the contact points of a force curve map of 625 (25×25) curves. Microsc. Res. Tech. 76:870–876, 2013 . © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.