A Counting Algorithm for Overlapped Chromosomes

Counting the total number of chromosomes in each metaphase cell and computing the DNA index can predict the outcome of pediatric patients' treatment. The primary obstacle affecting the result is how to count the number of chromosomes contained in the overlapped chromosomes. In this paper, a counting algorithm for overlapped chromosomes was presented. In the algorithm, we mainly use ultra erosion and 8-connectivity component-labeling to count the number of chromosomes contained in the overlapped chromosomes. The experiment proves that the number of overlapped chromosomes counted by the this algorithm is similar to the corresponding number.