Three-dimensional reconstruction from serial sections III. AUTOSCAN, a software package in FORTRAN for semiautomated...

A FORTRAN program, called AUTOSCAN, is described. This program permits the collection of photomicrographic data from serial sections to be semiautomated. In essence the user defines a box around a microscopic field of interest. Then the program drives the stage incrementally in the x and y directions, taking photographs of contiguous subfields. The box is defined by the use of a joystick and the "return" key. That is, movements of a joystick cause the stage to translate in the x and y directions. When a corner of the object is reached, as defined by cross-hairs in the microscope eyepiece, the user hits the return key. Repetition of this process at each corner defines a "box" within which photographs are to be taken. AUTOSCAN then calculates the step size and the number of frames to be taken from the user-defined values for the magnification. The actual movements of the stage in the x and y directions and the photography are fully automated. Each frame of film has the x and y coordinates of the center of the subfield being photographed imprinted in one corner, along with other relevant data. The x and y coordinates permit the resultant information to be assembled correctly into a two-dimensional montage.