Method and apparatus for automated analysis of biological specimens
First Claim
1. In an image analysis apparatus, a method of analyzing nuclei fragments and whole nuclei of cell objects in a cut tissue and assigning selected whole nuclei into individual classes of a plurality of mutually exclusive classes, said method comprising:
- automatically measuring by said image analysis apparatus a plurality of cell object attributes of each of said cell objects;
assigning, by said image analysis apparatus in response to said measuring step, one of said mutually exclusive classes to selected ones of said whole nuclei;
displaying a representation of a plurality of said selected whole nuclei substantially simultaneously with indicia of its respective class assigned thereto; and
enabling, after the commencement of the displaying step, an operator to change the class assigned to any of said displayed whole nuclei.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for analyzing the cell objects of a cell sample for the diagnosis and treatment of actual or suspected cancer is disclosed. An image of the cell sample is first digitized and morphological attributes, including area and DNA mass of the cell objects are automatically measured from the digitized image. The measured attributes are compared to ranges of attribute values which are preestablished to select particular cell objects having value in cancer analysis. After the selection of cell objects, the image is displayed to an operator and indicia of selection is displayed with each selected cell object. The operator then reviews the automatically selected cell objects, with the benefit of the measured cell object attribute values and accepts or changes the automatic selection of cell objects. In a preferred embodiment, each selected cell object is assigned to one of six classes and the indicia of selection consists of indicia of the class into which the associated cell object has been placed. The measured DNA mass of identified cell object fragments in tissue section samples may also be increased to represent the DNA mass of the whole cell object from which the fragment was sectioned.
90 Citations
27 Claims
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1. In an image analysis apparatus, a method of analyzing nuclei fragments and whole nuclei of cell objects in a cut tissue and assigning selected whole nuclei into individual classes of a plurality of mutually exclusive classes, said method comprising:
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automatically measuring by said image analysis apparatus a plurality of cell object attributes of each of said cell objects; assigning, by said image analysis apparatus in response to said measuring step, one of said mutually exclusive classes to selected ones of said whole nuclei; displaying a representation of a plurality of said selected whole nuclei substantially simultaneously with indicia of its respective class assigned thereto; and enabling, after the commencement of the displaying step, an operator to change the class assigned to any of said displayed whole nuclei. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of analyzing a tissue section in an automatic analyzing apparatus with image analysis, said method comprising:
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providing a cell sample comprising whole nuclei and cell nuclei fragments caused by slicing the tissue section for analysis; automatically measuring, by said apparatus, attributes of nuclei fragments of said cell sample; automatically comparing, by said apparatus, said measured attributes to predetermined parameters distinctive of whole nuclei from the tissue section; and reporting, by said apparatus in response to said comparing step, said measured attributes of only said whole nuclei in said cell sample included in said report, and excluding from said report measured attributes of said nuclei fragments.
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14. A method of analyzing by an image analysis apparatus a cut tissue sample comprising a disordered collection of cell objects in said cut tissue sample having whole nuclei and nuclei fragments of cells therein, said method comprising:
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forming an optical image of said cut tissue sample; identifying a plurality of optical entities in said optical image, each entity having a single common boundary; automatically measuring a plurality of attributes including DNA mass of each optical entity identified in the identifying step; selecting in response to said attribute measuring step, ones of said optical entities representing whole nuclei; displaying said optical image of said cut tissue sample; and displaying indicia of selection in association with each whole nuclei selected in said selecting step. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of analyzing, by an image analysis apparatus, a cut tissue sample comprising a plurality of cell objects having whole nuclei and nuclei fragments for a suspected cancer, said method comprising:
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storing in the image analysis apparatus a plurality of ranges of cell object attribute values for identifying cell objects having cancer analysis value; automatically measuring, by said analysis apparatus, a plurality of cell object attributes, including cell object DNA mass, of each of said whole nuclei and nuclei fragments; comparing said stored ranges of attribute values with said automatically measured cell object attributes for said whole nuclei; automatically selecting, responsive to said comparing step, ones of said objects having whole nuclei and cancer analysis value; and reporting a DNA histogram representing the numbers of whole nuclei selected in said selecting step having DNA masses in predetermined ranges. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. An image analysis apparatus for analyzing nuclei fragments and whole nuclei of cell objects in a cut tissue sample and assigning selected whole nuclei into one of a plurality of mutually exclusive classes, comprising:
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means for measuring a plurality of cell object attributes of each of said cell objects; means, responsive to said measuring means, for assigning one of a plurality of mutually exclusive classes to selected ones of said whole nuclei; means for displaying a representation of each of said whole nuclei substantially simultaneously with indicia of its respective class assigned thereto by said assigning means; and means responsive to operator interaction for changing the class assigned to any of said displayed whole nuclei. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A method of automating production of a report by an image analysis apparatus of a cut tissue sample comprising a plurality of cell objects including whole nuclei and nuclei fragments, said method comprising:
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forming an image of said cell objects; automatically measuring, by said image apparatus, morphological attributes of said cell objects in said image; storing in said apparatus said measured attributes for each of said cell objects; displaying on said apparatus said cell objects of said image to an operator; displaying on said apparatus the measured attributes of at least one cell nuclei in association with said at least one cell nuclei, the attributes of each of said at least one cell nuclei being separately displayed from the attributes of other ones of said at least one cell nuclei; and generating by said apparatus a report including said measured attributes of selected whole nuclei, said selected whole nuclei being selected for inclusion in the report after said attribute displaying step. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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Specification