Image analysis algorithms for immunohistochemical assessment of cell death.

Light microscopy allows for the inexpensive and fast detection of neuronal /glial cell demise and estimation of infarct and traumatic lesion volumes; the direct correlates of cell death. Quantitative assessment of brain tissue damage following stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI ) or neurodegenerative diseases, and recovery after therapeutic intervention has been facilitated by recent developments in computer-assisted image analysis technologies that enable more objective and accurate morphometric quantification of cell injury in whole brain sections. In this chapter, the proposed workflow describes what tasks need to be fulfilled to visualize and gauge cell death characterization by histological stains and immunohistochemical markers.