Most of the applications in microscopic image analysis are still salved by a heuristic method that focuses on the specificity of each problem. This is particularly true for applications involving color images. Because of this, the design of robust algorithms has remained time consuming and is usually performed by an image analysis expert with many years of experience. How then can the knowledge of the expert be transferred to the less specialized microscopist? How can the specificity of a typical application be related to general color image analysis tools?

Only a general approach can work towards decreasing the heuristic aspect of the design phase and help the common user perform image analysis without the assistance of an expert.