Automatic Cells Counting in Natt-Herrick Stained Fish Blood

Abstract

Monitoring of hematological values which provide important information about the health status of fish is considerably important in aquaculture. One of the most commonly used methods for detecting the hematological values in fish blood is the usage of Natt-Herrick solution.   Basically, in this approach, Natt-Herrick stained blood samples are examined with a microscope and the cells are counted. Nevertheless, the counting process is both tough and time-consuming. In this study, a technique in which cell counting in blood samples images is automatically performed has been presented. Natt-Herrick stained blood samples of Oncorhynchus mykiss and Sparus aurata were used for evaluation of the developed scheme. The outputs generated by automatic blood cells detection algorithm in 90 images were compared with results which were obtained by means of user’s intervention.  Consequently, an average f-score over 0.96 was achieved.

Keywords

• Fish blood,Natt-Herrick solution,Automatic cell counting

Automatic Cells Counting in Natt-Herrick Stained Fish Blood

Öz

Hematolojik değerlerin kontrolü balıkların sağlık durumları hakkında önemli bilgiler verdiğinden, bu kontrol balık yetiştiriciliğinde oldukça önemlidir. Hematolojik değerlerin kontrolünde en sık kullanılan yöntemlerden biri de Natt-Herrick solüsyonudur. Natt-Herrick solüsyonu yardımıyla boyanan kan örnekleri mikroskop ile incelenmekte ve hücre sayımı yapılmaktadır. Ancak bu sayım hem yorucu hem de zaman alıcıdır. Bu çalışmada kan örneklerine ait görüntüler üzerinden otomatik olarak hücre sayımı yapabilecek bir teknik sunulmuştur. Geliştirilen yöntemin değerlendirilmesinde Natt-Herrick solüsyonu ile boyanmış Gökkuşağı Alabalığı ve Çipura balıklarına ait örnekler kullanılmıştır. Bu örneklere ait 90 adet görüntüdeki kan hücrelerinin otomatik belirlenmesi sonuçları ile kullanıcılar tarafından belirlenen sonuçlarla karşılaştırılmıştır. Karşılaştırma sonucunda ortalama olarak 0,96’nın üzerinde f-skor değeri elde edilmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Balık kanı,Natt-Herrick solüsyonu,Otomatik hücre sayımı

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