FISH image analysis

Abstract

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a rapidly expanding imaging technique in medical research and clinical diagnosis. Both researchers and clinicians find it helpful to employ quantitative digital imaging techniques with FISH images. This technique is of particular interest for multi-probe mixtures and for the automated analysis of large numbers of specimens. In the preparation of FISH specimens, multiple probes, each tagged with a different fluorophore, are often used in combination. This permits simultaneous visualization of several different molecular components of the cell. Usually, the relative positions of these components within the specimen are of scientific or clinical interest. The authors discuss these techniques and their applications. FISH dot counting is increasingly used in research and clinical studies. Research procedures and clinical tests using FISH almost certainly have an increasingly significant role to play in the future of biology and medicine. In much the same way as cytogenetics has adopted digital imaging, the techniques described here, and similar ones, will become a routine part of research and clinical practice as the use of FISH techniques expand. As in radiology, one can expect digital image processing to become an indispensable part of the activity.