Cell morphology image processing and corrections

• US 10,641,706 B2
• Filed: 05/24/2016
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Konica Minolta Inc.
• Original Assignee: Konica Minolta Inc.
• Inventors: Yoshihara, Yuka
• Primary Examiner(s): Fitzpatrick, Atiba O
• Application Number:
  US15/736,382
• Publication Number:
  US 20180188177A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,442 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2021/6439 with indicators, stains, dyes, tags, labels, marks
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/64 Fluorescence; Phosphorescence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/6428 Measuring fluorescence of fluorescent products of reactions or of fluorochrome labelled reactive substances, e.g. measuring quenching effects, using measuring "optrodes" in vivo A61B5/00; immunoassay G01N33/53
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/6458 Fluorescence microscopy fluorescence microscopes per se G02B21/0076 and G02B21/16
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/48 Biological material, e.g. blood, urine G01N33/02, G01N33/26, G01N33/44, G01N33/46 take precedence; Haemocytometers counting blood corpuscules distributed over a surface by scanning the surface G06M11/02
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/5005 involving human or animal cells immunoassay G01N33/56966; immunoassays of protozoa G01N33/56905; protozoa in screening assays C12Q1/025
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/582 with fluorescent label
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10056 Microscopic image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10064 Fluorescence image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30024 Cell structures in vitro; Tissue sections in vitro
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 Biomedical image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/11 Region-based segmentation

Abstract

Provided is a technology in which an image accurately representing a distribution of an area where a specific portion of a cell in an image capturing a cell morphology is captured can be stably acquired. In order to provide the technology, an acquisition unit acquires a virtual cell distribution image in which a distribution of an assumed cell area to be assumed that a specific portion of a cell in a cell morphology image capturing a cell morphology is represented by a plurality of cell display elements, and one or more cell display elements of the plurality of cell display elements is depicted according to an operation of a user. An arithmetic unit obtains a characteristic value relevant to characteristics in appearance and characteristics in appearance of corresponding one or more assumed cell areas in the cell morphology image, with respect to each of the one or more cell display elements described above. A correction unit corrects the virtual cell distribution image to generate a cell distribution image by setting a cell display element of which the characteristic value is at least out of an allowable value range or within a prohibition value range to be in a state of being deleted from the virtual cell distribution image or being unadopted, in one or more cell display elements.

Claims

1. An image processing device, comprising:

a display control unit that displays a cell morphology image capturing a cell morphology in a tissue section of a biological object stained with a staining reagent on a display unit;

an input unit that inputs a signal according to an operation of a user;

an acquisition unit that acquires a virtual cell distribution image from the cell morphology image, the virtual cell distribution image depicting one or more cell display elements of a plurality of cell display elements, according to the signal from the input unit, and representing a specific portion of a cell in the cell morphology image by the one or more cell display elements, and the cell morphology image is displayed on the display unit;

an arithmetic unit that obtains a characteristic value relevant to at least one type of appearance characteristic of the specific portion of the cell, wherein at least one type of appearance characteristic corresponds to the cell display element of the cell morphology image; and

a correction unit that corrects the virtual cell distribution image to generate a cell distribution image by setting a cell display element of which the characteristic value is at least out of an allowable value range or within a prohibition value range to be in a state of being deleted from the virtual cell distribution image or being unadopted, in the one or more cell display elements.

2. The image processing device according to claim 1,

wherein at least one value range of the allowable value range and the prohibition value range with respect to the characteristic value relevant to each of the at least one type of characteristics includes a predetermined value range set in advance, or a variable value range set according to a rule set in advance from a statistic relevant to the characteristic value of each of the at least one type of characteristics with respect to the plurality of cell display elements.

3. The image processing device according to claim 2,

wherein the statistic includes at least one value of an average value, a mode value, and a medium value.

4. The image processing device according to claim 1,

wherein the one type or more characteristics in appearance include at least one characteristic of a size, a denseness, and a shape.

5. The image processing device according to claim 4,

wherein a characteristic relevant to the size includes one type or more characteristics of an area, a circumferential length, a length of a long axis, and a length of a short axis, with respect to at least one of the cell display element and the specific portion of the cell,

a characteristic relevant to the denseness includes one type or more characteristics of a color phase, a luminosity, a chromaticness, a brightness, and a color difference, with respect to at least one of the cell display element and the specific portion of the cell, and

a characteristic relevant to the shape includes one type or more characteristics of a degree of circularity, a flatness ratio, and an aspect ratio, with respect to at least one of the cell display element and the specific portion of the cell.

6. The image processing device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a setting unit that sets at least one of the allowable value range or the prohibition value range, and the at least one type of characteristics, according to the type of cell morphology image.

7. The image processing device according to claim 1,

wherein the acquisition unit acquires a bright point distribution image representing a distribution of a fluorescent bright point relevant to a specific wavelength of a fluorescent image capturing the tissue section in which a specific biological substance is stained with a fluorescent staining reagent, and

the image processing device further includes a calculation unit that calculates an analysis value relevant to an existence state of the specific biological substance in the specific portion captured in the cell morphology image, on the basis of the cell distribution image and the bright point distribution image.

8. An image processing method, comprising:

(a) a step of acquiring a virtual cell distribution image depicting one or more cell display elements of a plurality of cell display elements, according to a signal input according to an operation of a user, wherein the virtual cell distribution image represents a specific portion of a cell in a cell morphology image capturing a cell morphology in a tissue section of a biological object stained with a staining reagent, the specific portion of the cell is represented by the one or more cell display elements, and the cell morphology image is displayed on a display unit, by an acquisition unit;

(b) a step of obtaining a characteristic value relevant to at least one type of appearance characteristic of the specific portion of the cell, wherein at least one type of appearance characteristic corresponds to the cell display element of the cell morphology image, in each of the one or more cell display elements, by an arithmetic unit; and

(c) a step of correcting the virtual cell distribution image to generate a cell distribution image by setting a cell display element of which the characteristic value is at least out of an allowable value range or within a prohibition value range to be in a state of being deleted from the virtual cell distribution image or being unadopted, in the one or more cell display elements, by a correction unit.

9. A computing system comprising

a processor;

and

a memory comprising instructions, that when executed on the processor, cause the computing system to at least;

(a) acquire a virtual cell distribution image depicting one or more cell display elements of a plurality of cell display elements, according to a signal input according to an operation of a user, wherein the virtual cell distribution image represents a specific portion of a cell in a cell morphology image capturing a cell morphology in a tissue section of a biological object stained with a staining reagent, the specific portion of the cell is represented by the one or more cell display elements, and the cell morphology image is displayed on a display unit, by an acquisition unit;

(b) obtain a characteristic value relevant to at least one type of appearance characteristic of the specific portion of the cell, wherein at least one type of appearance characteristic corresponds to the cell display element of the cell morphology image, in each of the one or more cell display elements, by an arithmetic unit, and

(c) correct the virtual cell distribution image to generate a cell distribution image by setting a cell display element of which the characteristic value is at least out of an allowable value range or within a prohibition value range to be in a state of being deleted from the virtual cell distribution image or being unadopted, in the one or more cell display elements, by a correction unit.