DetecTiff©: A Novel Image Analysis Routine for High-Content Screening Microscopy

In this article, the authors describe the image analysis software DetecTiff©, which allows fully automated object recognition and quantification from digital images. The core module of the LabView©-based routine is an algorithm for structure recognition that employs intensity thresholding and size-dependent particle filtering from microscopic images in an iterative manner. Detected structures are converted into templates, which are used for quantitative image analysis. DetecTiff © enables processing of multiple detection channels and provides functions for template organization and fast interpretation of acquired data. The authors demonstrate the applicability of DetecTiff© for automated analysis of cellular uptake of fluorescencelabeled low-density lipoproteins as well as diverse other image data sets from a variety of biomedical applications. Moreover, the performance of DetecTiff© is compared with preexisting image analysis tools. The results show that DetecTiff© can be applied with high consistency for automated quantitative analysis of image data (e.g., from large-scale functional RNAi screening projects). (Journal of Biomolecular Screening 2009:944-955)