Localization of Cellular Structures

A technique for the localization of cytoplasmic and nucleic material in Wrights and Wrights-Giemsa strained blood cells is described. The microscopic field of view is first scanned with three different wavelengths of light and then digitized with the aid of a microscopic/vidicon/computer. Each of the three pictures is then converted to a binary color picture by comparison with three calculated clipping levels. The three binary color pictures are then logically combined to generate ``masks'' or sets of points which correspond to 1)nucleic points in the picture, 2) cytoplasmic points in the picture, and 3)red-cell points in the picture. The algorithms involved are easy to implement either in hardware or software, and execute very rapidly in either environment.