MAN‐MACHINE INTERACTION FOR IMAGE PROCESSING

Our objective in designing the image processor described here has been to develop a working system for computer-aided chromosome analysis in the setting of a medical center. The hardware, a digital computer and an image processor, are general purpose instruments within some rather arbitrary limitations of our choosing. These include the spatial and grey scale resolution, the use of film, the speed and the cost. In addition, because we have a specific objective with a time-table, the equipment used consists only of currently available components. Tissue sampling, tissue culture methods, slide preparation, microphotography, and the clinical interpretations of the results to be obtained have been considered in our overall program. All of these are important in a workable system of chromosome analysis, but will not be explicitly discussed in this paper. Instead. we will concentrate on describing the interactive processor hardware that makes it possible and the initial software approach.