2002 Volume 19 Issue 4 Pages 375-380
Micro-Slicer Image Processing System (MSIPS) has been developed for measuring the three-dimensional(3-D) structure and distribution of ice crystals formed in biological materials. The system has functions to reconstruct the 3-D image based on the image data of exposed cross sections obtained by multi-slicing of a frozen sample with the minimum thickness of 1μm and to display the internal structure as well as an arbitrary cross section of the sample choosing observation angles. The effects of freezing conditions on the morphology and distribl1tion of ice crystals were demonstrated quantitatively from the observations of raw beef stained by fluorescent indicator. The 3-D image of the sample demonstrated that the growth of ice columns was restricted by the intrinsic structure of muscle fibers. The proposed method provided a new tool to investigate the effects of freezing conditions on the size, morphology and distribution of ice crystals.
