An integrated system for quantitation of chemotaxis using a 48-well millipore filter assay

We have established a computerized system for quantification of human neutrophil motility using a 48-well chemotaxis assay. The software is primarily written in the Unix C-shell and is designed to integrate with standard statistical and graphics packages and permit analysis either under Unix or MS-DOS. We demonstrate how simple image analysis techniques may be used to count neutrophils that have traversed a polycarbonate filter. Methods of optical optimization, cell counting and integration with the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) are presented.