APPLYING LOCAL STATISTICS TO DETECT SUBTLE G-BANDS IN CHROMOSOMES

Genetic disorders manifested in chromosome aberrations can be evaluate d by analysis of the banding pattern of human metaphase chromosomes. W e describe the resolution of chromosomal bands depending on the degree of chromosomal condensation and introduce a pattern enhancement techn ique using local statistics to improve band pattern features of a past condensation stage. The algorithm was first tested on synthesized pro files to determine its characteristics as the parameters of the algori thm are varied. It is shown that the method is capable of enhancing su btle staining patterns hidden in artificial profiles as well as in mea sured profiles, The example of a human chromosome No. 11 demonstrates the importance of the described technique for chromosome classificatio n in ambiguous cases. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.