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The Counting Frame
The probe that is used to count is called the counting frame. The counting frame is the most widely used probe in stereology. The counting frame is typically shown as a red and green probe, but it can also be shown in a black with part of the counting frame dashed. A number of rules for counting that accompany the counting frame have been developed to provide a method to rigorously count objects. The simplicity of the method is ingenious, yet the simplicity makes it possible to overlook some of the questions that turn up when counting. The counting rules are defined next.
Figure 1. A counting frame for the Optical Fractionator is displayed over a three-channel confocal image of mouse cortex at high magnification.