Irish research team devises new imaging system for BSE
Irish research team devises new imaging system for BSE
DUBLIN, Ireland A multidisciplinary research team at University College Dublin (UCD) and the state Veterinary Research Laboratory has developed what it claims is the world’s first computer-based system for image analysis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
The group, headed by Mark Rogers at UCD’s zoology department, has developed a prototype software system based on an Optimas image-processing engine from Media Cybernetics (Silver Springs, MD). The software, which runs on a standard Windows-based computer, is connected to an analog video camera, and the camera is then linked with a microscope for observation of histopathological sections.
According to software developer Dara Fitzgerald in the National Agricultural and Veterinary Biotechnology Centre at UCD, the application uses statistical analysis to compare images derived from test samples with previously encountered images from pathological sections. It is expected to yield both quantitative and qualitative improvements in histopathological screening for BSE. Because the technique is non-invasive, users can also archive the samples and the associated image observation for retrospective analysis.
The system has entered validation trials at Veterinary Research Laboratory (Abbottstown, Dublin, Ireland). BioResearch Ireland, the state agency that commercializes university-based research, has not yet decided on its commercial future, but it is positioning it as a laboratory tool rather than a mass-screening technology. "The commercialization path isn’t very clear to us at the moment," said Gwilym Williams at the National Agricultural and Veterinary Biotechnology Centre in UCD. "What makes it interesting for us is it’s a logical extension to what pathologists are doing at the moment."
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