ABSTRACT
With the availability of first microcomputer-compatible video signal digitizer in 1984, an image analysis laboratory could be established without the expense and difficulty encountered in earlier minicomputer-based systems. Although some of the conceptual problems of digital image processing are not resolved, plariimetric, densitometric, and morphometric measurements now can be performed efficiently and routinely. The single computer peripheral that defines digital image processing is the video frame memory (VFM). The VFM is an assembly of electrical subsystems that have been used extensively in computer processing of analog signals. The host computer system interacts with the VFM in analyzing the digitized video information. A high-resolution interactive cursor peripheral is desirable as part of digital image processing system so that the investigator can mark structures, regions of interest, and select menu items for controlling the executing of the program. A mouse has been used for this application, but a touch screen peripheral mounted directly on the video monitor has a distinct advantage.
