Computer-aided image analysis for the differentiation of mononuclear cells in peripheral blood smears from leukemic patients.

Different leukemias originating from the lymphatic system and from the myeloid tissue of the bone marrow were selected to develop and test algorithms to cytophotometrically define leukemic cells. Two of these cases were of low-grade, one of intermediate-grade and one of high-grade malignancy. The malignant cell types of each leukemic form could be identified and characterized by assessing the chromatin texture of the nucleus in the leukemic cells. With this method, normal peripheral white blood cells could be differentiated from leukemic ones. The results correlate directly with established hematologic parameters as they are described in the literature. The investigation demonstrated the usefulness of computer methods in the differentiation of closely related cell structures.