AUTOMATED DIGITAL IMAGE-ANALYSIS OF ORGAN-CULTURE PRESERVED DONOR CORNEAS

The present study reports the application of a modified commercially a vailable automated digital image analysis system (DIA) for the evaluat ion of organ culture preserved donor corneas. The central corneal endo thelium was viewed and photographed under an inverted phase-contrast m icroscope. The images were then analyzed with the help of DIA. The res ults of DIA were compared to the findings obtained with a conventional 'fixed-frame analysis' for the same corneas. 100 human donor corneas have been evaluated. DIA, with interactive picture enhancement, was fo und to be practicable, and to yield reproducible results. The mean num ber of cells analyzed per photograph was 250 (range 95-395); this, on the average, was four times higher than with conventional fixed-frame analysis (mean 54, range 37-70). The correlation of the cell densities obtained with both methods was highly significant (p < 0.0001). Since additional information, like variation in cell size and shape (circul arity form factor), was automatically computed by the program, more da ta on the homogeneity of the donor endothelial cell pattern were avail able. Futhermore, this computerized technique does not require an expe rienced investigator and thereby helps to eliminate bias.