RHIZO Tron, image analysis system to analyze minirhizotron images or manually measure scanned roots

About WinRHIZO Tron & Tron MF

WinRHIZO Tron & Tron MF are manual root measurement programs that allow you to analyse images produced by minirhizotron underground video camera systems or other sources that do not offer a good contrasts between roots and their background (for images with good contrasts or automatic analyses, see our WinRHIZO Basic, Reg, Pro & Arabidopsis family of products). The main difference between the two WinRHIZO Tron versions are:

WinRHIZO Tron analyses one frame (image) at a time;
WinRHIZO Tron MF analyses multiple frames simultaneously (MF=Multiple Frames).

Measurements

WinRHIZO Tron computes morphological measurements for traced roots. These measurements are calculated for each root and root segments. Total values for all roots are also available. These measurements are summarized on screen and detailed data are available in data files.

You can choose which information is displayed and how it is presented (content, text size and color). Each analyzed frame has its name written in its upper left corner, over the image. You can also select which morphological information displayed in the command area (as illustrated below).

Measurements

The distribution of the root morphological measurements (length, area, volume) as a function of root diameter is visible in the graphic above the image

The command area

Total root measurements (for the whole image).
(Root length, surface area, projected area, volume, average diameter and number of tips).

Image information automatically extracted from file name using the ICAP naming scheme (Experiment, Tube, Location, Session, Date, Time and Data Gatherer)

Active root name (Ex: R1) and its measurements data (length, surface area...).

Active segment number and its measurements data (length, surface area).

Reg

Morphological measurements

Root length

Projected area

Surface area

Volume

Number of tips per diameter class

Topology analysis

Topological link classification into five categories:
EE (External-External)
EI(External-Internal)
II (Internal-Internal)
IL (Isolated Link)
BL (Base Link)

Branching angle (angle between a descending link direction and the direction of the link it is issued from)

Link magnitude (number of external links [with a tip] extending from a link

Link path length (number of links between a link and the base link)

Link developmental order (primary, secondary, tertiary order...)

Root system altitude (largest path length)

Root system external path length (sum of path lengths of external links (tip)

Axis morphology (length, area, volume of connected links of the same order)

Can skip gap areas (regions of image which appears in two consecutive images). Images file name must be conform to the ICAP naming scheme

Load and display simultaneously multiple images acquired at different time and/or neighboring locations (ICAP naming scheme)

Cut and paste one, some or all measured roots of a neighboring image to another

Features of both versions

In order to measure roots with WinRHIZO TRON you must manually trace them with the mouse over the image. As you trace them to indicate their presence, WinRHIZO TRON measures them and display complete morphological information on screen. Root segments and nodes can be modified (moved, re-sized, deleted or added) by clicking the mouse or pressing keyboard keys. As you modify the roots, morphological measurements and data in files are automatically updated.

The distribution of root length, area, volume or number of tips is displayed as a function of diameter in a graphic above the image. The color classes are the same as those used to draw the roots in the image. WinRHIZO TRON measures the real root diameter distribution rather than the average diameter as some other programs do. If, for examble, a root segment encompasses three diameter classes, the root length is distributed among those three classes rather than only in the average class.

You can draw the roots with a pen if you prefer (Windows Tablet or Hybrid laptop computer required).

An analyzed root is made of segments delimited by nodes (nodes correspond to the clicked positions).

Features
	Reg	MF
The root color can be function of:
Segment diameter
Living status (alive, dead, gone)
Root developmental order
Link topology
Root diameter can be shown with
Circles at nodes
Lateral lines along the root edge
Without any display
Features that make your work more efficient
You can retrieve a previous analysis to superpose over a current image
Roots and segments naming can be done manually or automatically
When you load an image that has the ICAP naming scheme, WinRHIZO TRON automatically extracts the parameters that will be used to identify the sample (tube #, location #, date...) from the file name. The ICAP naming system is used by Bartz Technology Minirhizotron image acquisition systems among others.
Data saving is done automatically as roots are traced or modified (no need to activate a command).
Other features
You can scroll, zoom in and zoom out images
Analyse small and very large image
Analyse images from cameras or scanners
Can undo a "delete" command
ICAP automatic naming scheme. The location number is automatically incremented after each image acquisition
Parameters are saved in a configuration file for future uses
You can shift the position of a single root or all the roots inside an analysed region (useful to align a prior analysis over a new image)
The original images are never modified. The analysis is displayed over them.
You can change the colors used to display information.
You can add notes (comments, observations) to images or roots.
Can rotate images
Display rooth growth (highlight differences in function of time)

	The root color can be a function of:


	Root diameter can be shown with circles as above or:


	You can scroll and zoom in some parts of an image or zoom out to view larger areas or more frames (images).

WinRHIZO Tron comes with a printed and pdf color manual with plenty of illustrations.

WinRHIZO Tron is updated regularly.

	Image Analysis for Plant Science

Regent Instruments Inc.	since 1991