The SBIR is aimed at the development of an automated system for corneal endothelial cell counting and morphology analysis. This system will be useful for both researcher and clinicians. The incorporation of direct high-resolution acquisition of endothelial cell images, which allows analysis of cell morphology at the time of acquisition, will have a significant impact on clinical uses. These automated techniques for rapid quantitative analysis of corneal endothelial cell morphology derived from specular microscope images would have a significant impact on evaluating the endothelium pre and post surgery, including intraocular lens implantation and phacoemulsification. Techniques for temporal image registration, based on cell pattern recognition, for patient follow-up will be included and will greatly expand the potential market. In Phase I, a prototype system for automated endothelial cell counting and morphology analysis will be developed. This system will be based on image enhancement and morphological techniques for automated endothelial cell discrimination, segmentation and measurement. The potential for direct high-resolution acquisition of endothelial cell images will also be investigated.
