Fig. 3: Persistent homology standardizes shortest distance measures in mitochondria.

a–c Some of the many possible ways to measure crista widths (purple) and intercristal distances across matrix (yellow). d, e Persistent homology uses dilation and hole counting to standardize distance measurements. As pixels are added in dilation (red arrows), the crista membranes will move closer (dotted line) and a hole (yellow hatching) will form and eventually disappear. In crista membranes with a higher degree of curvature e holes will be present for more dilation rounds. This is indicated by a larger full-width-half-maximum in count curves generated during analysis, The max location in d and e remains the same at dilation round 2, which is equivalent to the average half distance between crista membranes.