Application of image analysis techniques to two-dimensional crossed immunoelectrophoresis study

Two-dimensional crossed immunoelectrophoresis (2D-CIEP) is a technique wide ly used for studying composition of protein mixtures in biological and clin ical studies. A low cost image analysis system with the use of an optical f latbed scanner and a IBM-compatible PC was set up in this work for capturin g 2D-CIEP patterns. A computer package CIEPEASY was developed for modificat ion and analysis of the image acquired to determine various peak parameters such as the migration distance, peak height and peak area of the constitut ing components for both qualitative and quantitative studies. In this appro ach, more composition information of the standard and sample gel patterns c ould be extracted from the proposed image analysis system. The time require d for data collection and interpretation of 2D-CIEP images was shortened si gnificantly and the results obtained have a higher accuracy than those obta ined by using conventional methods. Moreover, a linear relationship between the peak area and the amount of antigen present in a sample was confirmed accurately and reported for the first time in the literature. (C) 1999 Else vier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.