Image processing of biological signals with computers

Image processing, with the help of digital computers, is gaining importance, day by day, especially in the medical fields. Diagnostic data from the human body is complex in nature and becomes difficult to analyse. Specialists use different techniques to get a clear picture of the human anatomy, but due to complexity of structure, it has been always difficult to interpret these images. Processing of these images with computers has made it more convenient to diagnose and analyse such data. The present paper describes a system which helps in image processing of biological signals with a computer; mainly in the area of ophthalmology. Three important steps in image processing; digitization, processing and display are discussed in detail. A digitizer converts an image into a numerical representation. The system proposed for image processing is based on a microprocessor device for special purpose applications. This performs a variety of functions on high resolution image arrays. The availability of the system will assist doctors and scientists to analyse the data and diagnose the abnormality, especially in the eye, in a more effective manner.