Decision support system for capillaroscopic images

The aim of the paper is to describe a decision support system operating in the area of capillaroscopic images. The system automatically sites the capillaroscopic analyzed image into one of the following classes: normal, diabetic and sclerodermic. The automatic morphometric analysis attempts to imitate physician behaviour and requires the introduction of some particular features connected with the specific domain. These features allow achieving a symbolic representation of the capillary partitioning it into three components: apex, arteriolar and venular side. The system is hierarchically organized in two levels. The system has been successfully used for obtaining images of nailfold capillaries of human finger.