The Cavalieri estimator is a bit of a misnomer. Cavalieri did not do estimates. Cavalieri did not point count.
Back in 1902 two geologists were trying to determine the size of crystals viewed through a microscope. They modeled the crystals as rectangular prisms and made use of the Cavalieri principle to determine the volume of the crystals. A mistake made in the application of the Cavalieri principle was that two objects must have the same height. This was not true in the work done. This misuse of the Cavalieri principle has not stopped the name from being used.
One of the odd things of stereological papers is making reference to Cavalieri's 1536 book when stating that point counting is being used. The reference has nothing whatsoever to do with stereological methods.
The citation of a 450 year old work that is an improper citation has fortunately become less of a fad.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Stereology Let's Us Measure the World Correctly
Stereology is more than counting cells although that is the most common use of stereological principles in the eyes of neuroscientists. Stereology is used in a great number of biological disciplines other than tissue level studies.
One of the interesting parts of the biological studies that employs proper stereological principles is ecology. One of the questions that is studied is some measure of biological diversity. A great number of measures have been conceived and many have fallen to the side as their weaknesses have been revealed.
Stereological measures were developed that provided information needed to answer questions such as biological diversity, and available forage. Many of these methods use techniques that are the same as the methods that are performed under the microscope. In fact, very similar problems exist such as the edge effect.
The importance of stereological methods, whether under the microscope or macroscopic analyses of large land areas, is that the methods have been develoepd that provide the right answer.
One of the interesting parts of the biological studies that employs proper stereological principles is ecology. One of the questions that is studied is some measure of biological diversity. A great number of measures have been conceived and many have fallen to the side as their weaknesses have been revealed.
Stereological measures were developed that provided information needed to answer questions such as biological diversity, and available forage. Many of these methods use techniques that are the same as the methods that are performed under the microscope. In fact, very similar problems exist such as the edge effect.
The importance of stereological methods, whether under the microscope or macroscopic analyses of large land areas, is that the methods have been develoepd that provide the right answer.
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