Quantitative morphological analysis of red blood cells.

Recently developed methods for making quantitative measurements of red cell morphology are described. High-speed image processing is used to make six simultaneous red cell measurements relating to size, hemoglobin content, central pallor, and shape. These measurements are combined objectively to subdivide red cells into five subpopulations and to characterize each subpopulation by its principal distributional parameters. Also, an objective assessment of the blood sample is made relative to the diagnosis of anemia. Results from five typically encountered blood conditions are presented and analyzed in detail to illustrate the various distributional parameters involved and to illustrate the potential of these new measurements to extract relevant diagnostic information.