[A new image-processing system designed for densitometry and pattern analysis of microscopic specimen. Application to the automated recognition and counting of cells in the various phases of the mitotic cycle (author's transl)].

A new image analysing system, designed for microphotometric measurement and pattern recognition has been applied in the discrimination of cells from the various phases of the mitotic cycle. The data acquisition procedure is controlled by a programmable electronic unit and involves the combination of the shifting of the microscope moving stages and the scanning of the successive fields by a mechanical device. The data processing is achieved by a computer. The preliminary results we obtained have shown that such a system allows the automatic recognition and counting of the M, G1, S and G2 cells as also the G0 resting cells. The most useful parameters of the cell proliferation kinetics are thus obtained from a single specimen of a cell population.