Microcomputer analysis for corneal endothelial cell morphology.

A method for individual endothelial cell analysis using modern microcomputer hardware and the program package "ENDO", developed specially for this purpose, is described. To determine the areas and perimeters of individual cells the coordinates of cell apices are recorded directly from specular photomicrographs with a manual digitizer. To digitize 100 cells with this method takes an average of 16 min. A new parameter for cell shape, called hexadev and derived from cell areas and perimeters, is introduced. The shapes of the individual cells are compared with the shape of an equilateral hexagon and the deviations from this reference shape are expressed in percentage. In addition, the program calculates 6 other morphological parameters for the cell sample analyzed. Accuracy and repeatability of the method are presented, Current status of individual cell analysis and previous attempts to describe cell shape are discussed.