Apparent Subdiffusion Inherent to Single Particle Tracking

Author :Martin B. Forstner, Douglas S. Martin, Florian Rückerl, Josef A. Kas, and Carsten Selle
Publication :Biophysical Journal
Publisher :The Biophysical Society
Volume :83
Pages :2109-2117
Year :2002

Subdiffusion and its causes in both in vivo and in vitro lipid membranes have become the focus of recent
research. We report apparent subdiffusion, observed via single particle tracking (SPT), in a homogeneous system that only
allows normal diffusion (a DMPC monolayer in the fluid state). The apparent subdiffusion arises from slight errors in finding
the actual particle position due to noise inherent in all experimental SPT systems. A model is presented that corrects this
artifact, and predicts the time scales after which the effect becomes negligible. The techniques and results presented in this
paper should be of use in all SPT experiments studying normal and anomalous diffusion.