Recent advances in automatic image analysis using a television system

Abstract

SUMMARY Image analysis, in the context of this paper, comprises the extraction of quantitative geometric and densitometric data from images produced by optical and electron microscopes or any other imaging system. Typical measurements include area percentages, intersect counts, feature counts, size distributions and integrated density determinations. Much of the stereological work is still performed by manual methods, but technological progress in recent years has considerably promoted the use of automatic image analysing devices. This paper describes recent developments in scanner performance and the correction of shading errors which allow reliable densitometric measurement. In addition, the previous geometric capabilities have been extended to include feature selection by pattern recognition criteria.