AdipoGauge software for analysis of biological microscopic images

Abstract

Obesity is a complex disease of global epidemic proportions. Adipose tissue expansion and chronic low-grade inflammation, locally and systemically, are hallmark features of obesity. Obesity is associated with several other chronic diseases, which are also characterized by inflammation. Determination of adipocyte size and macrophage content in adipose tissue is a critical step in assessing changes in this tissue with obesity. Here, we introduce a complete standalone software package, AdipoGauge, to analyse microscopic images derived from haematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained and immunofluorescently stained histology sections of adipose tissue. The software package is a user-friendly application that does not require a vast knowledge of computer science or costly commercial tools. AdipoGauge includes analysing tools that are capable of cell counting and colour separation. Furthermore, it can quantify the cell data in images both with and without clear boundaries around the cells. It can also remove objects from the image that are not intended for analysis, such as blood vessels or partial cells at edges of slide sections. The simple and state-of-the-art graphical user interface requires minimal time and learning.

Keywords

• adipose tissue
• obesity
• histology
• image processing
• microscopic image analysis