The McImageType object that is returned is a COPY of the region acccess's type information. The characteristics of the region access cannot be changed by modifying this type object. Note that since the type object is a copy, it can be modified and used for further processing. For instance, to convert multi-channel image to a new monochrome image with the same pixel type and bit depth, you can use the following (assuming that RAImg is a valid region access on the image):
Dim RAType as McImageType
Dim NewImage as McImage
Set RAType = RAImg.Type
RAType.NumberOfChannels = 1
Set NewImage = RAImg.CreateImage RAType