Methods for differential cell counts including related apparatus and software for performing same
First Claim
1. A method of counting cells, said method comprising the steps of:
- obtaining investigational data of a sample with cells;
selecting an evaluation rectangle in said investigational data;
enhancing said investigational data within said evaluation rectangle; and
counting cells within said evaluation rectangle.
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Abstract
The present invention provides an optical method, system and software for imaging cells, in particular blood cells. In one embodiment, laboratory samples containing blood cells are deposited onto bio-discs, which are specially manufactured discs with mixing chambers that contain specific antigens to lock down various components of the blood cells. Once in the optical drive, the disc is spun and the samples and antigens are mixed with other solutions. Electromagnetic beams are then directed at the bio-disc to interact with the samples at specific capture zones and the resulting beams are collected by a detector. The information contained in the beams is then sent to a processor that produces a digital image. Various image processing methods such as binarization, background uniformization, normalization and filtering are performed to enhance cells in the investigational data for accurate counting. Other techniques are designed to correct for irregularities such as bubbles and dim cells.
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Citations
56 Claims
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1. A method of counting cells, said method comprising the steps of:
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obtaining investigational data of a sample with cells;
selecting an evaluation rectangle in said investigational data;
enhancing said investigational data within said evaluation rectangle; and
counting cells within said evaluation rectangle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 41, 42, 43, 45, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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10. The method of 9 wherein said step of removing undesirable components further comprises the steps of:
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selecting a threshold value;
performing binarization on said investigational data using said threshold value;
performing regularization on said investigational data;
extracting connected components;
selecting a size threshold; and
removing components that fail to meet said size threshold.
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11. The method of 10 wherein said step of performing regularization further comprises the step of performing a plurality of erosion and expansion.
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12. The method of 10 wherein said step of extracting connected components further comprises the steps of:
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assigning initial component numbers to all black points on said investigational data;
picking a starting point;
setting an scan direction;
scanning all points of said investigational data to reassign the component number of each of said black points to match the component number of adjacent black points;
altering said scan direction according to a set of pre-determined rules; and
repeating said steps of scanning and altering so that said component numbers of connected black points become the same.
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39. The method of 37 wherein said step of finding one of said plurality of windows further comprises the steps of:
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performing compression on said investigational data;
performing threshold evaluation on said investigational data;
performing binarization on said investigational data;
performing regularization on said investigational data;
extracting connected components from said investigational data; and
finding a component from said connected components that corresponds to a window.
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40. The method of 39 wherein said step of extracting connected components further comprises the steps of:
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assigning initial component numbers to all black points on said investigational data;
picking a starting point;
setting an scan direction;
scanning all points of said investigational data to reassign the component number of each of said black points to match the component number of adjacent black points;
altering said scan direction according to a set of pre-determined rules; and
repeating said steps of scanning and altering so that said component numbers of connected black points become the same.
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44. The method of 43 wherein said step of extracting connected components further comprises the steps of:
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assigning initial component numbers to all black points on said investigational data;
picking a starting point;
setting an scan direction;
scanning all points of said investigational data to reassign the component number of each of said black points to match the component number of adjacent black points;
altering said scan direction according to a set of pre-determined rules; and
repeating said steps of scanning and altering so that said component numbers of connected black points become the same.
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46. The method of 29 wherein said optical disc contains computer readable location information for locating said capture zone.
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47. The method of 37 further comprising the step of displaying image of said window on a computer monitor.
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48. The method of 47 where said step of displaying said image of said window further comprises:
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determining if said image is skewed;
finding the direction of the skew; and
correcting the skew of said image.
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Specification