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A stand-alone, interactive computer system has been developed that automates the analysis of ethidium bromide-stained agarose and acrylamide gels on which DNA restriction fragments have been separated by size. High-resolution digital images of the gels are obtained using a camera that contains a one-dimensional, 2048-pixel photodiode array that is mechanically translated through 2048 discrete steps in a direction perpendicular to the gel lanes. An automatic band-detection algorithm is used to establish the positions of the gel bands. A color-video graphics system, on which both the gel image and a variety of operator-controlled overlays are displayed, allows the operator to visualize and interact with critical stages of the analysis. The principal interactive steps involve defining the regions of the image that are to be analyzed and editing the results of the band-detection process. The system produces a machine-readable output file that contains the positions, intensities, and descriptive classifications of all the bands, as well as documentary information about the experiment. This file is normally further processed on a larger computer to obtain fragment-size assignments.

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Movies acquired from fundus imaging using Indocyanine Green (ICG) and a scanning laser ophthalmoscope provide information for identifying vascular and other retinal abnormalities. Today, the main limitation of this modality is that it requires esoteric training for interpretation. A straightforward interpretation of these movies by objective measurements would aid in eliminating this training barrier.A software program has been developed and tested that produces and visualizes 2D maps of perfusion measures. The program corrects for frame-to-frame misalignment caused by eye motion, including rigid misalignment and warp. The alignment method uses a cross-correlation operation that automatically detects the distance due to motion between adjacent frames. The d-ICG movie is further corrected by removing flicker and vignetting artifacts. Each pixel in the corrected movie sequence is fit with a least-squares spline to yield a smooth intensity temporal profile. From the dynamics of these intensity curves, several perfusion measures are calculated. The most effective of these measures include a metric that represents the amount of time required for a vessel to fill with dye, a metric that represents the diffusion of dye, and a metric that is affected by local blood volume. These metrics are calculated from movies acquired before and after treatment for a neovascular condition. A comparison of these before and after measures may someday provide information to the clinician that helps them to evaluate disease progression and response to treatment.

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