APPLICATION OF THE IMAGE-ANALYSIS SYSTEM AND IMAGO PROGRAM TO BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES

Recent developments in computer systems and new stereological tools ha ve made estimation of quantitative data in biological material simple, easy and fast. The purpose of the present study is to show the advant ages and disadvantages of a new program developed by the University of Cordoba for the determination of stereological measurements. As an ex ample, endometrial material was used for demonstrating the technical c haracteristics. Thus, the nuclear area and volume-weighted mean nuclea r volume-(V) over bar(V(nucl))-of 30 routinely processed, paraffin-emb edded endometrial specimens from 12 atypical hyperplasias (AH) and 18 well-differentiated adenocarcinomas (WDA) were investigated. We show t he excellent visualization of the material and rapid measurement of th ese quantitative parameters using the Image program. In addition, the mean values of (V) over bar(V(nucl)) are more efficient and useful in separating AH and WDA than the mean nuclear area. It is concluded that (V) over bar(V(nucl)) is a superior and sensitive estimator for discr imination.