Evaluation of semi-automatic image analysis tools for cerebrospinal fluid electrophoresis of IgG oligoclonal bands.

Background: IgG concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid generally range from 20 to 45 mg/L. In multiple sclerosis immune reactions lead to intrathecal synthesis of specific IgGs that can be detected in biological fluid samples both quantitatively and qualitatively by isoelectric focusing of supplementary oligoclonal IgG bands.

Method: A simple tool, using the MATLAB application, to facilitate and improve isoelectric focusing profile analysis is presented and evaluated in terms of its sensitivity, repeatability and reproducibility.