Spectral bandwidth in automated leukocyte classification

Investigators have repeatedly pointed out the importance of spectral information in the automated classification of white blood cells. In general, monochromatic images recorded through two or three color filters are used to extract this information. Although it has generally been thought that the use of narrow band filters provides "cleaner" color information than is obtainable through wide band filters, the choice has not been fully investigated and the question is far from being settled. The use of wide band filters has the clear practical advantage of increased light levels at the detector, resulting in higher signal-to-noise ratio with less demand on light source design. In order to investigate this issue, a series of 681 leukocytes of the most frequently occurring types were digitized by the use of both narrow (10 nm) and wide (90 nm) band filters. Parameters were extracted independently from both sets of images. These parameters were then used to develop a classifier for each set of images. The choice of features and classifier results indicate that there are no major performance differences between the two types of filters.