Image Processing-Based Morris Water Maze Rat Tracking System: Design and Analysis

Sutrisno Ibrahim (Universitas Sebelas Maret)
Gayatri Dewani (Universitas Sebelas Maret)
Joko Hariyono (Universitas Sebelas Maret)
Faisal Rahutomo (Universitas Sebelas Maret)
Nanang Wiyono (Universitas Sebelas Maret)
Ratih Yudhani (Universitas Sebelas Maret)

Journal of Fuzzy Systems and Control (JFSC)
Vol. 4 No. 3 (2026): Vol. 4 No. 3 2026

Four experimental rats consisting of one normal rat and three Alzheimer's-induced rats were analyzed. The proposed system employed ImageJ integrated with the RatsTrack and Macro RatsTrack plugins using a centroid based tracking approach. The system successfully extracted movement trajectories, distance travelled, speed, acceleration, and quadrant dwell time during acquisition and probe trials. The system performance was validated by comparing quadrant dwell times obtained from the proposed system with manual observations. The percentage differences ranged from 2.29% to 70.97%. demonstrating that the proposed system can effectively represent rat behavioral patterns, although discrepancies remain in certain quadrants requiring further refinement.