ADVANCED IMAGE-ANALYSIS SYSTEMS IN CELL, MOLECULAR AND NEUROBIOLOGY APPLICATIONS

Many of today's image acquisition devices (scanners and cameras) yield high-resolution (1280 X 1024 pixels is typical) and/or high-precision (> 8 bits) image data. When coupled to a powerful image analyzer these image acquisition devices offer practical advantages in many bioscien ce applications. The benefits of high resolution include better contra st transfer (sharper images with more accurate density rendition) and an ability to work with large specimens at lower optical magnification s (larger field of view). High precision is useful if images contain s ubtle features (e.g., fluorescently labeled processes at densities clo se to background) and/or wide dynamic range. Examples are given, illus trating the use of a number of medium- and high-performance image acqu isition devices with an advanced image analyzer. The examples include a comparison of intensified and integrating cameras in fluorescence mi croscopy, evaluation of the performance of a fast, cooled integrating camera in ratio fluorescence imaging, and a comparison of film and sto rage phosphor-plate performance in quantitative receptor autoradiograp hy.