Table 1.

Comparisons Between Stereology and Image Analysis.

	Stereology	Image Analysis
Advantages	1. Gold standard for quantitative analysis of tissues 2. Minimal to no assumptions 3. Provides precise and unbiased measurements 4. Able to accurately measure volumes, number of cells, surface area, etc.	1. Easily automated 2. Quantitative results are obtained more rapidly than with stereology, so more amenable to high throughput 3. Excellent when used for IHC, ISH, and special stains when contrast allows easy segmentation of an image
Limitations	1. Considerable amount of time is required to perform stereology 2. Typically requires the investigator to obtain an initial reference volume and monitor changes to the volume during tissue processing to account for shrinkage (Fig. 2C).	1. Less rigorous and assumptions are required in many instances, which introduces bias 2. This technique provides measurements of relative change (%), which is typically a ratio of the ROI to the total tissue or other denominator 3. Counts 2D profiles, which overestimates the number of objects counted; is influenced by orientation and distribution of cells in a 3D tissue; and counts larger cells more than smaller cells. 4. Less precise than stereology

Abbreviations: 2D, two-dimensional; 3D, three-dimensional; IHC, immunohistochemistry; ISH, in situ hybridization; ROI, region of interest.