  Brugia malayi are thread-like parasitic worms and one of the etiological
agents of Lymphatic filariasis (LF). Existing anthelmintic drugs to treat LF
are effective in reducing the larval microfilaria (mf) counts in human
bloodstream but are less effective on adult parasites. To test potential drug
candidates, we report a multi-parameter phenotypic assay based on tracking the
motility of adult B. malayi and mf in vitro. For adult B. malayi, motility is
characterized by the centroid velocity, path curvature, angular velocity,
eccentricity, extent, and Euler Number. These parameters are evaluated in
experiments with three anthelmintic drugs. For B. malayi mf, motility is
extracted from the evolving body skeleton to yield positional data and bending
angles at 74 key point. We achieved high-fidelity tracking of complex worm
postures (self-occlusions, omega turns, body bending, and reversals) while
providing a visual representation of pose estimates and behavioral attributes
in both space and time scales.
