Computer-aided measurement of transverse axon sections for morphology studies

A study has been made of a general-purpose minicomputer image analysis system to provide medical researchers with data needed in morphology studies of myelinated axon sections. The system was designed to provide data equivalent to that produced by manually outlining and quantifying the axon and myelin boundaries. The system hardware and algorithms are described and experimental results presented comparing manual and automated data. The results show that a system with limited automation is an order of magnitude faster than manual methods in providing data with comparable accuracy and improved repeatability.