Seeded region growing based detection of cells in fish blood stained with Natt-Herrick

To specify haematological parameters is a routine procedure so that state of fish health while aqua culturing could be determined. So, important information related to diagnosis and treatment can be obtained by determining them. Natt & Herrick´s stain solution is the most commonly method for determining haematological parameters. It is quite difficult and time-consuming to specify count of cells and to asses blood samples taken by the solution at microscope environment as a visually judgment. In this study, an automated method independent of user intervention based on seeded region growing for specifying cell related to fish blood with Natt & Herrick´s stain solution is developed. To evaluate of performance of proposed method, 90 images of different species of fish (rainbow trout, sea bream) prepared with Natt & Herrick´s stain solution by 100× zoom ratio are used. Results obtained proposed method determines cells with 97% accuracy.