Applications Of Image Analysis Systems Expand Beyond The Research Lab

TIME EFFICIENT: The AMBIS radioisotopic imager from Scanalytics/CSPI. Already an invaluable tool in some basic research, image analysis is edging into the classroom and the clinic. "Any field of life science that can put a video camera onto a microscope will begin to use image analysis," predicts Richard Cardullo, an associate professor of biology at the University of California, Riverside. In general, the technique acquires, digitizes, and then processes a microscope or scanned image, enhan

Written byRicki Lewis

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In general, the technique acquires, digitizes, and then processes a microscope or scanned image, enhancing some areas and subduing others, so that the user can measure, quantify, and otherwise analyze the data. Image-analysis systems can also archive data, which is particularly important in clinical trials.

COMPLETE PACKAGE: The KS 300 system from Carl Zeiss. "Once you have the image on the computer monitor, you can play with it, adjust the color, or cut off what you don't want. Or you can use the system simply to measure," says Uli Kohlhaas, a product manager for Carl Zeiss Inc. of Thornwood, N.Y. Researchers use image analysis to shoot color through selected neurons in a tangled mass of tissue; trace calcium fluxes as a muscle contracts; align electrophoresis gels; count and classify cells in a biopsy; and create interactive, three-dimensional reconstructions of anatomical parts from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT), and ...

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