[Histonet] Alternatives to BioQuant for Bone Histomorphometry

[Liz Chlipala]

Adam

I'm not sure if there is anything free out there that will do what you
want to do.  You might want to try Image J or NIH Image those are free.
We perform this type of analysis in Image Pro, but that software is
going to run you about $4000.00.  Also you have to know how to "script"
or program code to create a custom code that will work for your
application. I think that image pro is written in visual basic, so if
you know visual basic you could program your own code.  Since you have a
computer science background you might be able to do this, possibly even
with the BioQuant software.  You need to see if you can get a library
from them.  This will be lists of code, each will perform a specific
task, so you can essentially "script" custom code. That's how we
approach custom analysis here.  Custom code development can take some
time, depending upon how much QC/QA you want to perform to make sure
that your code is capturing the data correctly.  

Plus I would not say that the type of analysis you are attempting to
perform is simple.  I'm going to forward your e-mail to our image
analysis guy to see what he has to say, he is more of an expert than I
am on programming code since he is the one who does it for us. 

Liz

Elizabeth A. Chlipala, BS, HTL(ASCP)QIHC
Manager
Premier Laboratory, LLC
PO Box 18592
Boulder, Colorado 80308
office (303) 682-3949 
fax (303) 682-9060
www.premierlab.com
 
 
Ship to Address:
1567 Skyway Drive, Unit E
Longmont, Colorado 80504

-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Adam .
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 3:38 PM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] Alternatives to BioQuant for Bone Histomorphometry

Hi all,

I am looking for an alternative program to BioQuant for bone
histomorphometry. We need to quantify the number of osteoblasts /
osteoclasts per bone surface area as well as the percent surface area
occupied by those cells. We have a computer with BioQuant on it
available,
but we find the software to be incredibly clunky and often nearly
impossible
to use. Based on my limited attempts to use it, it very well might rank
as
one of the worst user interfaces I've ever seen, and I was trained in
computer science and have seen my fair share of horrible software (I'm
looking at you, Lotus Notes).

Anyhow, any suggestions on a (preferably cheap / free) replacement for
doing
simple analysis or how to make BioQuant less painful would be very
helpful.

Thanks,
Adam
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