How to select multiple sets of data points from a scatter plot (like gating in flow cytometry/cell sorting)?

I have 2 of column vectors that I plotted on a scatter plot. This is cell sorting data. I gated the data using reference lines (see png) I want to be able to export (x,y) data points between the specific lines. Is this possible? I'm using R2019b.

Answer 1

[Adam Danz]

Using the slope and y-intercept of each reference line, determine which points contain y-values less than the upper line and which points contain y-values greater than the lower line.

Create demo data. I assume you've computed the log() for each x and y since the axis scales are not log.

x = exp(linspace(2.2,5.8,500));
y = exp(log(x)+rand(size(x)).*linspace(2,.1,numel(x))-1);

% Define slope and y-intercepts for each line
slope = 0.74484;
yint = -1:.5:2;

% Convert x,y to log
xlog = log(x); 
ylog = log(y); 

Plot results

h = plot(xlog, ylog, 'o');
xlim([2,6])
ylim([.5,7.7])

Add reference lines. I assume you already have the slope and y-intercept info.

arrayfun(@(y)refline(slope,y), yint)
% Label lines
text(6*ones(size(yint)), slope*6+yint, compose('%d',1:numel(yint)))

Isolate dots between two reference lines. For this demo, we're isolating dots between the 3rd and 5th lines.

% isolate dots between lines 3 and 5
isBetween = ylog > slope*xlog+yint(3) & ylog < slope*xlog+yint(5);
%                                  ^                           ^

Plot the isolated points and return their x,y values

% Label selected dots
hold on
xBetween = xlog(isBetween);
yBetween = ylog(isBetween);
h2 = plot(xBetween, yBetween, 'r.');
legend([h,h2], 'All data', 'Data between lines 3 and 5')

[Hannah Haller]

Thank you for your answer! This is what I was looking for. Could you elaborate on how you generated the references lines? Like how are you able to refer to them by number? Is it just like assigning them a variable?

[Adam Danz]

It looks like your reference lines are parallel and therefore share the same slope. If that's the case, they only vary by y-intercept. I've defined a single slope and 7 y-intercepts (see variables slope and yint). The y-intercepts are sorted in ascending order so the bottom line is line #1 and the top line is line #7.

In the section "Isolate dots between two reference lines", I've selected lines 3 and 5.