EFFICIENT, INTERACTIVE, AND 3-DIMENSIONAL SEGMENTATION OF CELL-NUCLEIIN THICK TISSUE-SECTIONS

Segmentation of intact cell nuclei in three-dimensional (3D) images of thick tissue sections is an important basic capability necessary for many biological research studies, Because automatic algorithms do not correctly segment all nuclei in tissue sections, interactive algorithm s may be preferable for some applications. Existing interactive segmen tation algorithms require the analyst to draw a border around the nucl eus under consideration in all successive two-dimensional (2D) planes of the 3D image, The present paper describes an algorithm with two mai n advantages over the existing method, First, the analyst draws border s only in 2D planes that cut approximately through the center of the n ucleus under consideration so that the nuclear borders generally are m ost distinct, Second, the analyst draws only five borders around each nucleus, and then the algorithm interpolates the entire surface. The a lgorithm results in segmented objects that correspond to individual, v isually identifiable nuclei, The segmented surfaces, however, may not exactly represent the true nuclear surface, An optional, automatic sur face optimization algorithm can be applied to reduce this error. (C) 1 998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.