Computer-aided image analysis and graphics in biological microscopy at higher voltages

Abstract

The range of problems accessible to study using high voltage microscopy encompasses structures that span a wide range of dimensions from Angstroms to tens of microns. Structurally oriented cell biologists and neurobiologists examine cells, tissues, organelles and macromolecules in order to gain insight into cellular and molecular physiology by relating structure to function. Comprehension of these structures can be greatly enhanced by the application of computer aided three dimensional reconstruction and analysis techniques.The past decade has seen an explosive growth in the capabilities for the digital acquisition of images. At the same time, the availability of relatively inexpensive graphics workstations and sophisticated image processing and analysis software packages has made graphics and imaging techniques accessible to most research laboratories. However, the complexity of problems studied in the biological sciences has always presented a challenge to the techniques used in the analysis, and methods based on computer graphics are certainly no exception to this rule.