In this paper we present an algorithm for analysing sets of FTIR microscopic images of tissue sections. The proposed approach
allows one to investigate sets of many FTIR tissue images both with respect to sample information (variation from image to
image) and spatial variations of tissues (variation within the image). The algorithm is applied to FTIR microscopy images
of beef loin muscles containing myofibre and connective tissue regions. The FTIR microscopy images are taken of sub-samples
from five different beef loin muscles that were aged for four different lengths of time. The images were investigated regarding
variation due to the ageing length and due to the homogeneity of the connective tissue regions. The presented algorithm consists
of the following main elements: (1) pre-processing of the spectra to overcome large quality differences in FTIR spectra and
differences due to scatter effects, (2) identification of connective tissue regions in every image, (3) labelling of every
connective tissue spectrum with respect to its location in the connective tissue region, and (4) analysis of variations in
the FTIR microscopic images in regard to ageing time and pixel position of the spectra in the connective tissue region. Important
spectral parameters characterising collagen and proteoglycan structure were determined.
Figure Effective optical path length estimated by EMSC
Keywords FTIR imaging - Pre-processing - Standardisation - Extended multiplicative signal correction - ANOVA PLSR - Hyperspectral imaging - PCA - Connective tissue