MORPHOMETRIC TECHNIQUES ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY INDISPENSABLE IN MANY FIELDS INCLUDING MICROANATOMY, PATHOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

MORPHOMETRIC TECHNIQUES ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY INDISPENSABLE IN MANY FIELDS INCLUDING MICROANATOMY, PATHOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY. COMPUTER BASED MORPHOMETRY SYSTEMS GREATLY FACILITATE THE COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS OF THE LARGE VOLUMES OF DATA REQUIRED FOR A MEANINGFUL STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. SYSTEMS OF THIS TYPE CURRENTLY COST $12,000 - $20,000 LARGELY BECAUSE THEY MAY REQUIRE SEMICUSTOM HARDWARE AND BECAUSE THE COST OF SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT IS SPREAD OVER A SMALL CUSTOMER BASE. THE APPEARANCE OF INEXPENSIVE AND CAPABLE MICROCOMPUTERS, SUCH AS THE COMMODORE 64 IN THE MASS MARKET, MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO DESIGN A MORPHOMETRY SYSTEM IN WHICH THE PARTS COST COULD BE AS LOW AS $900. IF THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT COSTS WERE SPREAD OVER A LARGE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS A POWERFUL MORPHOMETRY SYSTEM COULD BE SOLD FOR AS LITTLE AS $2500. WE ENVISION A SYSTEM BASED ON THE COMMODORE 64 WHICH WOULD WORK WITH EITHER VIDEO IMAGES OR PHOTOGRAPHS AND ALLOW THE USER TO INDICATES POINTS OR LINES WITH EITHER A LIGHT PEN OR A DIGITIZING PAD. THE SYSTEM WOULD THEN STORE THIS DATA TO A FLOPPY DISK FOR LATER PROCESSING BY A LIBRARY OF MORPHOMETRIC AND STEREOLOGIC PROGRAMS.