MorphData

MorphData automates extraction and quantification of microglial cell morphological features from photomicrographs to characterize cell complexity and ramification as indicators of microglial activation.

Key Features:

• ImageJ plugin: Integrates as an ImageJ plugin for automated morphological analysis of microglial cells.
• Automated feature extraction: Automatically extracts morphological features associated with cell complexity and ramification from photomicrographs.
• Activation status evaluation: Focuses on morphological characteristics used to evaluate microglial activation status.
• Throughput and performance: Processes up to 699 single cells in under 14 minutes on limited computing hardware, compared with ~19 working days for manual analysis.
• Data organization: Collects and organizes extracted morphological data for downstream analysis.

Scientific Applications:

• Microglial activation characterization: Characterizing microglial activation status based on morphological features.
• Neurological and psychiatric disease research: Enabling morphological studies of microglia in human patients and animal models of neurological and psychiatric diseases.
• Disease mechanism and therapy support: Facilitating rapid morphological data collection to support studies of disease mechanisms and development of targeted therapeutic strategies.

Methodology:

Automated extraction of morphological characteristics (cell complexity and ramification) from photomicrographs using ImageJ plugin routines.