Figure 2

Principles of the approximation procedure to determine the basal soma area. A: The heading direction of the bipolar cell within the observed area is estimated, indicated by the arc. B: The cell is rotated around its highest part (represented by C₉₀ as defined in the text, see also Figure 3) by its heading direction to position the cell parallel to the abscissa. The cell is divided into its frontal and its rear part at the level of C₉₀. Each part of the cell is investigated linewise as indicated by the dashed lines in B. C: Side view (emphasized by the yellow box) of a single line. The contour of the cell at a single line is approximated by fitting a polynomial to the cell. The root of the polynomial (red dot in C) yields the boundary of the cell soma for the particular line. D depicts the result of the approximation procedure: The roots (red dots) obtained from fitting every single line of the frontal and rear part of the cell approximate the boundary of the cell soma.