WinCELL Measures the morphology of wood cells in thin slices of wood cut with a microtome or, for larger cells, such as primitive wooden vessels of deciduous species, directly on wood surfaces. Morphological data of wood cells can be measured by annual ring.

Image analyzers not specifically designed to measure wood cells are generally unable to produce data suitable for dendrochronology studies. These systems lack some knowledge about annual tree ring formation and cell structure (to calculate ring width, for example). WinCELL has this kind of know-how built in. It knows, for example, that a wall between two adjacent cells must be split in two to calculate cell length and initial wood or ring width. Its versatile configurations allow for the analysis of different wood species (deciduous vessels and radial rows of conifer tracheids). It supports various automatic and interactive analysis modes. The latter allows you to select cell lines for analysis in a way that mimics the traditional tracheoid method. WinCELL deals with incomplete cells, those truncated by the image boundary so that they have no effect on the average cell measurements.

WinCELL can analyze images acquired with scanners or digital cameras. The camera typically has a standard C-mount thread, allowing it to be mounted on a microscope using an adapter (C-mount adapter). It can also be placed directly above the wood sample to acquire images with optional lenses. It connects to the computer via a fast USB connection. If you plan to use a scanner, check its specifications before purchasing. WinCELL is TWAIN-compatible, which means it can acquire images from some camera or scanner models.

Image acquisition.

Wood cell analysis is traditionally performed on thin slices of wood cut with a microtome. To acquire images of such samples, a microscope with a camera attachment and a camera adapter is required. Staining is sometimes used to increase luminal wall contrast when acquiring images in translucent light. This is the ideal configuration for acquiring very high-resolution and accurate images, but the field of view is often limited, making it difficult or impossible to see complete rings.