Semi-automated detection and measurement of glomerular basement membrane from electron micrographs

Abstract

The accurate measurement of kidney glomerular basement membrane (GBM) width from transmission electron micrographs provides vital infromation in the diagnosis of some kidney diseases. A novel and effective algorithm has been developed for the semi-automatic detection of the GBM by image analysis techniques. The method makes use of the gradual variation of the local features that are characteristic of the membrane. Starting from a seed point specified by the user, local features within a small window are computed to give a feature score. Feature scores for adjacent neighbourhoods are also determined, and windows that satisfy a similarity criterion are linked to produce the centerline of the membrane. A region-growing process completes the segmentation procedure.