Automated quantification and sizing of unbranched filamentous cyanobacteria by model-based object-oriented image analysis.

Quantification and sizing of filamentous cyanobacteria in environmental samples or cultures are time-consuming and are often performed by using manual or semiautomated microscopic analysis. Automation of conventional image analysis is difficult because filaments may exhibit great variations in length and patchy autofluorescence. Moreover, individual filaments frequently cross each other in microscopic preparations, as deduced by modeling. This paper describes a novel approach based on object-oriented image analysis to simultaneously determine (i) filament number, (ii) individual filament lengths, and (iii) the cumulative filament length of unbranched cyanobacterial morphotypes in fluorescent microscope images in a fully automated high-throughput manner. Special emphasis was placed on correct detection of overlapping objects by image analysis and on appropriate coverage of filament length distribution by using large composite images. The method was validated with a data set for Planktothrix rubescens from field samples and was compared with manual filament tracing, the line intercept method, and the Utermöhl counting approach. The computer program described allows batch processing of large images from any appropriate source and annotation of detected filaments. It requires no user interaction, is available free, and thus might be a useful tool for basic research and drinking water quality control.