DEVELOPMENT OF A PC-BASED SYSTEM FOR ELECTRON MICROSCOPES

IT IS PROPOSED THAT A PERSONAL COMPUTER (PC)-BASED SYSTEM BE DEVELOPED THAT WILL PROVIDE A COST-EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR COLLECTING, PROCESSING, AND ANALYZING IMAGE DATA IN ELECTRONMICROSCOPES. WIDESPREAD USE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY FOR HEALTH AND BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH WOULD BE FEASIBLE IF LESS EXPENSIVE INSTRUMENTATION WERE AVAILABLE. A PC-BASED SYSTEM IS NEEDED BECAUSE THE PRACTICAL UTILITY OF CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ELECTRON-MICROSCOPE-IMAGE ANALYSIS SYSTEMS IS LIMITED DUE TO THE COST AND COMPLEXITY OF AVAILABLE INSTRUMENTATION. THIS INSTRUMENTATION IS OF VALUEBECAUSE IMAGE ANALYSIS AND PROCESSING TECHNIQUES CAN RESOLVE SUBTLE COMPOSITION DIFFERENCES THAT ARE NOT READILY APPARENT IN THE ELECTRON MICROSCOPE IMAGE OR MICROGRAPH. THUS, SUBTLE DIFFERENCES DUE TO THE EFFECTS OF EXTERNAL AGENTS CAN BE QUALIFIED AND QUANTIFIED. THE KEY TECHNICAL INNOVATION AND GOAL OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE TO DESIGN AN INTERFACE PERMITTING THE USE OF CURRENTLY AVAILABLE, GENERAL-PURPOSE PERSONAL COMPUTERS. EFFORTS DERIVED IN THE PHASE I PROGRAM WILL EXPLORE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING A PROTOTYPE PC-BASED SYSTEM. CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM IN PHASE II AND BEYOND WILL RESULT IN A LOW-COST SYSTEM FOR COLLECTING, PROCESSING, AND ANALYZING IMAGES THAT SUCCESSFULLY INTEGRATES PC TECHNOLOGY WITH ELECTRON MICROSCOPY.