OBSERVATION IMAGE DETERMINATION DEVICE, METHOD, AND PROGRAM

• US 20160161394A1
• Filed: 02/17/2016
• Published: 06/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Matsubara, Kenta
• Granted Patent: US 10,139,335 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: C12M 41/36 of biomass, e.g. colony counters or by turbidity measurements electrooptical investigation of individual particles G01N15/14, flow cytometers G01N15/1404
• CPC Class Codes: C12Q 1/04 Determining presence or kind of microorganism; Use of selective media for testing antibiotics or bacteriocides; Compositions containing a chemical indicator therefor C12Q1/6897 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 15/1433 using image recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2015/019 Biological contaminants; Fouling
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2015/1006 for cytology
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2015/1488 Methods for deciding
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2015/1493 Particle size
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2015/1497 Particle shape
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/22 Matching criteria, e.g. proximity measures
• 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 7/20 Analysis of motion motion estimation for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/43, H04N19/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/693 Acquisition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/698 Matching; Classification
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/69 Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/73 by influencing the exposure time

Abstract

An observation image determination device includes an observation image acquisition unit that captures an image of an observation region including a stem cell to be cultured to acquire an observation image and a determination unit that determines whether a living body of a different type from the stem cell is included in the observation region. The determination unit determines whether the different type of living body is included in the observation region, on the basis of at least one of form information of an observation target and information about a change in the observation target over time which are acquired from the observation image.

Claims

1. An observation image determination device comprising:

an observation image acquisition unit that captures an image of an observation region including a stem cell to be cultured to acquire an observation image; and

a determination unit that determines whether a living body of a different type from the stem cell is included in the observation region,

wherein the determination unit determines whether the different type of living body is included in the observation region on the basis of spatial frequency characteristics of an observation target acquired from the observation image and predetermined spatial frequency characteristics of the different type of living body.

2. The observation image determination device according to claim 1,

wherein the determination unit determines whether the different type of living body is included in the observation region on the basis of at least one of the size and shape of the observation target.

3. The observation image determination device according to claim 2,

wherein, when the observation target having a size equal to or less than a predetermined size threshold value is present, the determination unit determines that the different type of living body is included in the observation region.

4. The observation image determination device according to claim 2,

wherein the determination unit performs pattern matching between the shape of the observation target and a predetermined shape of the different type of living body to determine whether the different type of living body is included in the observation region.

5. The observation image determination device according to claim 1,

wherein the determination unit determines whether the different type of living body is included in the observation region on the basis of at least one of an amount of movement of the observation target and a multiplication rate of the observation target.

6. The observation image determination device according to claim 5,

wherein, when the amount of movement of the observation target is equal to or greater than a predetermined movement amount threshold value, the determination unit determines that the different type of living body is included in the observation region.

7. The observation image determination device according to claim 5,

wherein, when the multiplication rate of the observation target is equal to or greater than a predetermined multiplication rate threshold value, the determination unit determines that the different type of living body is included in the observation region.

8. The observation image determination device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an imaging unit that captures the observation image,

wherein the imaging unit can perform switching between a first imaging interval when the observation image used to determine whether the different type of living body is included is captured and a second imaging interval when the observation image used to observe the stem cell is captured, and

the first imaging interval is shorter than the second imaging interval.

9. The observation image determination device according to claim 8,

wherein the determination unit outputs an end signal to the imaging unit when the determination of whether the different type of living body is included ends, and

the imaging unit automatically switches the first imaging interval to the second imaging interval in response to the end signal.

10. The observation image determination device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an imaging unit that captures the observation image,

wherein the imaging unit can perform switching between a first magnification when the observation image used to determine whether the different type of living body is included is captured and a second magnification when the observation image used to observe the stem cell is captured, and

the first magnification is higher than the second magnification.

11. The observation image determination device according to claim 10,

wherein the determination unit outputs an end signal to the imaging unit when the determination of whether the different type of living body is included ends, and

the imaging unit automatically switches the first magnification to the second magnification in response to the end signal.

12. The observation image determination device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an imaging unit that captures the observation image,

wherein the imaging unit can perform switching between a first exposure time when the observation image used to determine whether the different type of living body is included is captured and a second exposure time when the observation image used to observe the stem cell is captured, and

the first exposure time is longer than the second exposure time.

13. The observation image determination device according to claim 12,

wherein the determination unit outputs an end signal to the imaging unit when the determination of whether the different type of living body is included ends, and

the imaging unit automatically switches the first exposure time to the second exposure time in response to the end signal.

14. The observation image determination device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an imaging unit that captures the observation image,

wherein the imaging unit can perform switching between a first amount of exposure when the observation image used to determine whether the different type of living body is included is captured and a second amount of exposure when the observation image used to observe the stem cell is captured, and

the second amount of exposure is more than the first amount of exposure.

15. The observation image determination device according to claim 14,

wherein the determination unit outputs an end signal to the imaging unit when the determination of whether the different type of living body is included ends, and

the imaging unit automatically switches the first amount of exposure to the second amount of exposure in response to the end signal.

16. An observation image determination method comprising:

capturing an image of an observation region including a stem cell to be cultured to acquire an observation image; and

determining whether a living body of a different type from the stem cell is included in the observation region on the basis of spatial frequency characteristics of an observation target acquired from the observation image and predetermined spatial frequency characteristics of the different type of living body.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having stored therein an observation image determination program that causes a computer to function as:

an observation image acquisition unit that captures an image of an observation region including a stem cell to be cultured to acquire an observation image; and

a determination unit that determines whether a living body of a different type from the stem cell is included in the observation region,

wherein the determination unit determines whether the different type of living body is included in the observation region on the basis of spatial frequency characteristics of an observation target acquired from the observation image and predetermined spatial frequency characteristics of the different type of living body.