Automatic counting of fission tracks in apatite and muscovite using image processing.

One of the major difficulties of automatic track counting using photomicrographs is separating overlapped tracks. We address this issue combining image processing algorithms such as skeletonization, and we test our algorithm with several binarization techniques. The counting algorithm was successfully applied to determine the efficiency factor GQR, necessary for standardless fission-track dating, involving counting induced tracks in apatite and muscovite with superficial densities of about $6 \times 10^5$ tracks/$cm^2$.