Origins of ... image analysis in clinical pathology.

The term "image analysis" is reserved for a special discipline in pathology that aims to obtain diagnostically important information in an objective and reproducible manner, by measuring and counting. The origins of meas- uring microscopical images are almost as old as the microscope itself. Leeuwenhoek (fig As a reference he used sand grains of different sizes, and hairs from his head, beard or wig.' 2 Using this method, in 1674 he measured human erythrocytes as 25 000 times smaller than a small sand grain, corresponding to 8.5 gm.3 Given the means at his disposal, this is amazingly precise.