Hi, I work in a neurobiology lab which is trying to set up an
image analysis system for counting data.
We are trying to decide between two image analysis software
packages: Mocha and ImagePro, which will cost us approximately
$1500 or $2500, respectively. I would like anyone with
experience with either or both of these programs to tell me
what problems or advantages they have found. They have many
similar features but each has some features the other lacks.
I've been trying to examine these features, but it would be
helpful if someone with experience working with these programs,
and who has formed an opinion based upon this experience, could
contribute some advice. Please respond by email; I will post
any relevant conclusions that might be useful for others.
Our data is in the
form of microscope slides with brain tissue sections containing
cells stained for various hormones. These cells appear black,
brown or blue on a light gray background. This kind of data
should be easy to auto-count on an image-analysis program, I
think. We want to count cells (tally), and possibly do some
area and density measurements too.
Our hardware setup is a Gateway
2000 with a 486 processor, into which is installed a Targa+
32-bit frame grabber card; an Idek multifrequency monitor; a
Leitz Laborlux microscope; a monochrome CCD camera (which we
are hoping to update to a color camera soon); and a monochrome
monitor with a direct feed from the camera so we can see live
images. I hope I have described this stuff correctly--I'm a
Mac person at heart, but I'm stuck in a PC lab. If anyone
needs more information in order to respond, please email me.
Thanks in advance,
Wendy Cholbi
University of Virginia
wjc4f at virginia.edu
