| abstract |
The present invention provides assistance for visual observation based counting of particles or crystals. In an image of a specimen of an unidentified sample, particles are counted from an image obtained as a result of binarization using a method such as the discriminant analysis method, for example, and crystals are counted from two images using the difference between the images according with different imaging conditions. As an example, in the particle counting, such as a two-step noise removal is performed, and also, for the crystals, alignment and aspect ratio calculation are performed. In particular, the present invention can provide assistance for the dispersion staining method in which asbestos crystals are visually searched for using a phase-contrast microscope. |