Increased nuclear size, resulting in an increase in the relative proportion of nuclear to cytoplasmic sizes, is an important morphologic criterion for the evaluation of neoplastic and pre-neoplastic cells. This paper describes investigations into the suitability of automated image analysis for quantitating changes in nuclear and cytoplasmic cross-sectional areas in exfoliated cells from tracheas treated with carcinogen.Neoplastic and pre-neoplastic lesions were induced in the tracheas of Syrian hamsters with the carcinogen N-methyl-N-nitrosourea. Cytology samples were collected intra-tracheally with a specially designed catheter (1) and stained by a modified Papanicolaou technique. Three cytology specimens were selected from animals with normal tracheas, 3 from animals with dysplastic changes, and 3 from animals with epidermoid carcinoma. One hundred randomly selected cells on each slide were analyzed with a Bausch and Lomb Pattern Analysis System automated image analyzer.
