Automated Quantitation of Labeled Cells: The MCID System in Action

Amy Kruse

Graduate Research Assistant

NPA

Beckman Institute

8 July 1999

There is a great deal of emphasis on the quantitation of cells/targets in biological research today. This need for numerical representation of experimental effects is limited by the labor intensive procedures required to achieve these numbers. The MCID software package coupled with the CCD camera installed on the Zeiss Axiovert microscope in the Beckman Microscopy Suite is a powerful tool for studying a variety of biological samples, including tissue sections and cultured cells. Among its many functions the MCID system allows for detailed study of large areas and rapid cell counting using two functions, Tiled Field Mapping and Automatic Target Detection. This forum will discuss how to access these features in the MCID system, as well as discuss applications on tissue from in situ hybridization in the avian brain.