Quantitative Immunohistochemistry by Measuring Cumulative Signal Strength Using Commercially Available Software Photoshop and Matlab

Abstract

Currently available techniques for performing quantitative immunohistochemistry (Q-IHC) rely upon pixel-counting algorithms and therefore cannot provide information as to the absolute amount of chromogen present. We describe a novel algorithm for true Q-IHC based on calculating the cumulative signal strength, or energy, of the digital file representing any portion of an image. This algorithm involves subtracting the energy of the digital file encoding the control image (i.e., not exposed to antibody) from that of the experimental image (i.e., antibody-treated). In this manner, the absolute amount of antibody-specific chromogen per pixel can be determined for any cellular region or structure. (J Histochem Cytochem 48:303-311, 2000)