A fully automated method for detecting and measuring a target of interest such as vasculature, capable of processing whole slide images and extracting large number of targets of interest per slide. The method includes the steps of: (a) obtaining a digital image of a tissue specimen; (b) using a first set of mathematical algorithms based on objectively-defined criteria to isolate the one or more targets of interest from the slide, thereby detecting the one or more targets of interest; and (c) using a second set of mathematical algorithms based on objectively-defined criteria to construct boundaries around the detected targets of interest and obtain quantitative attributes of these one or more targets throughout the slide, thereby measuring the one or more targets.