The long term objective of this research is to apply new techniques of digital image processing to the analysis of red blood cells. It has been demonstrated, in our preliminary and related research, that these techniques have the potential of precise and rapid measurements of individual red cells with regard to their hemoglobin content, size, shape and central pallor. Further, subpopulations of cells can be rigorously defined according to characteristic variations of these measurements. These techniques could provide a new investigative tool for clinical medicine, resulting in enhanced, more efficient, anemia diagnosis. The primary objectives of these (Phase I) studies are to determine the optimum measurement wavelength, Lambda and associated extinction coefficient, Epsilon Lambda for the measurement of hemoglobin in dried red blood cells on a blood film. These are important constants, necessary as final design components for commercial application of the measurement techniques. These parameters will be selected with due consideration for the different types of hemoglobin present in the red cell and the correspondence between EpsilonLambda for solutions of hemoglobin. The potential commercial application of the proposed research is in the area of clinical laboratory blood analysis, instrumentation and testing.
