Abstract
A new approach to the quantification of fiber type grouping is presented, in which the distribution of histochemical type in a muscle corss section is regarded as a realization of a binary Markov random field (BMRF). Methods for the estimation of the parameters of this model are discussed. The first order BMRF, which is used in this article, contains 2 parameters: α and β. The parameter β is of prime importance, as it is an interaction parameter which governs the degree of type grouping. The value of this parameter is estimated for 9 muscle biopsies. The interpretation of the results is discussed.