Microscopic techniques automated image analysis

Huggins, F.E. Huffman, G.P. Lee, R.J. Scanning Electron Microscope-Based Automated Image Analysis (SEM-AIA) and Moessbauer Spectroscopy — Quantitative Characterization of Coal Min er als. In Coal and Coal Products Analytical Characterization Techniques, Fuller, E.L. Jr., Ed. ACS SYMP. SERIES 205, American Chemical Society Washington, D. C., 1982, pp. 

Microscopy. Characterization of particulate from suspensions using microscopic methods is an effective method for establishing the size distribution of the particles and also their composition. Using properly prepared samples, automated image analysis techniques can be used that significantly reduce data collection times. Although the size distribution and composition of the suspended particles are important, the real strength of microscopic methods is the ability to observe particles in suspension and to determine how they interact and associate. There is little difference in microscopic methods applied to solids in suspension or to oil droplets in suspension (emulsions). As a result, the bulk of this discussion is borrowed from a similar chapter on emulsion characterization found in reference 19. 

The potential of all the microscopic techniques has been nowadays greatly implemented by the possibility of using automated image analysis (AIA), which allows to obtain structural details and to have quantitative information on the filler dispersion. 

Although particulate methods are potentially more informative than bulk methods because of the extra information obtained on particle size, their application in coal mineralogy has been relatively limited The main reason for this has been the lack of automation, as such microscopic measurements are time-consuming and tedious if sufficient data have to be generated manually Recently, however, the application of microcomputers and image-analysis systems to microscopy has progressed to the extent that most of the operation, data collection, and analysis can now be done automatically A number of reports of such automated microscope techniques used in coal research have appeared recently in the literature (3-8) ... 

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