Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering (IBB), Centre of Biological Engineering, Universidade do Minho, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2013 Sep;20(9):5887-912. doi: 10.1007/s11356-013-1824-5. Epub 2013 May 29.
Quantitative image analysis techniques have gained an undeniable role in several fields of research during the last decade. In the field of biological wastewater treatment (WWT) processes, several computer applications have been developed for monitoring microbial entities, either as individual cells or in different types of aggregates. New descriptors have been defined that are more reliable, objective, and useful than the subjective and time-consuming parameters classically used to monitor biological WWT processes. Examples of this application include the objective prediction of filamentous bulking, known to be one of the most problematic phenomena occurring in activated sludge technology. It also demonstrated its usefulness in classifying protozoa and metazoa populations. In high-rate anaerobic processes, based on granular sludge, aggregation times and fragmentation phenomena could be detected during critical events, e.g., toxic and organic overloads. Currently, the major efforts and needs are in the development of quantitative image analysis techniques focusing on its application coupled with stained samples, either by classical or fluorescent-based techniques. The use of quantitative morphological parameters in process control and online applications is also being investigated. This work reviews the major advances of quantitative image analysis applied to biological WWT processes.
在过去的十年中，定量图像分析技术在多个研究领域中发挥了不可否认的作用。在生物废水处理（WWT）过程领域，已经开发了几种计算机应用程序来监测微生物实体，无论是单个细胞还是不同类型的聚集体。已经定义了新的描述符，这些描述符比经典的用于监测生物 WWT 过程的主观和耗时的参数更可靠、客观和有用。这种应用的例子包括丝状膨胀的客观预测，丝状膨胀是活性污泥技术中最常见的问题之一。它还证明了其在原生动物和后生动物种群分类中的有用性。在基于颗粒污泥的高负荷厌氧工艺中，可以在关键事件（例如毒性和有机过载）期间检测到团聚时间和碎片化现象。目前，主要的努力和需求在于开发定量图像分析技术，重点是将其应用于结合染色样本的技术，无论是基于经典还是荧光的技术。还在研究在过程控制和在线应用中使用定量形态参数。本文综述了定量图像分析在生物 WWT 过程中的主要应用进展。
