Object-oriented developmental environment for image-analysis applications: implementation for 2D gel electrophoretogram analysis.

Motivation: The principal motivation was to design an environment for the development of image-analysis applications which would allow the integration of independent modules into one frame and make available tools for their build-up, running, management and mutual communication.

Results: The system was designed as modular, consisting of the core and work modules. The system core focuses on overall management and provides a library of classes for build-up of the work modules, their user interface and data communication. The work modules carry practical implementation of algorithms and data structures for the solution of a particular problem, and were implemented as dynamic-link libraries. They are mutually independent and run as individual threads, communicating with each other via a unified mechanism. The environment was designed to simplify the development and testing of new algorithms or applications. An example of implementation for the particular problem of the analysis of two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoretograms is presented. The environment was designed for the Windows NT operating system with the use of Microsoft Foundation Class Library employing the possibilities of C++ programming language.

Availability: Available on request from the authors.