Automated DNA array image segmentation and analysis

• US 6,577,956 B1
• Filed: 06/09/2000
• Issued: 06/10/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Biodiscovery Inc. (BioNano Genomics, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Biodiscovery Inc. (BioNano Genomics, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shams, Soheil
• Primary Examiner(s): Horlick, Kenneth R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): KIM, YOUNG J
• Application Number:
  US09/591,915
• Time in Patent Office: 1,096 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/104, 702/19, 435/6
• US Class Current: 702/19
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10056 Microscopic image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10064 Fluorescence image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30072 Microarray; Biochip, DNA array; Well plate
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 Biomedical image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/11 Region-based segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A segmentation method of a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots. The image information includes image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots. The frame is stored in a memory device and a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images is selected. A grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images is generated, such that each grid point includes position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame. The current position of one or more grid points are adjusted by: selecting a first bounding area in the frame around the current position of the grid point; generating a first position update including position information for updating a current position of said grid point to a first new position within the first bounding area, the location of said first new position relative to said current position being a function of intensity level of at least a portion of the image within the first bounding area; generating a second position update including position information for updating said current position to a second new position in the frame, said second new position being in a geometric arrangement with the position of grid points around said grid point; and updating said current position with the position information of the first and the second position updates, thereby shifting said grid point toward the corresponding spot image. A display method displays image information corresponding to a plurality of DNA spot images of at least one DNA spot, the image information including image characteristic values including background and signal intensity levels. For each DNA spot image: (1) background and signal intensity levels are extracted from the image characteristic values for the spot image, and (2) difference values between the background intensity levels and signal intensity levels are determined. For each DNA spot: (1) the corresponding difference values are related a range of graphic values, (2) a graphic value for each difference value is selected; and (3) the selected graphic values are displayed.

Claims

1. A method of displaying image characteristic information for a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images, corresponding to plurality of DNA spots, the image information being maintained in memory, comprising the steps of:

for each DNA spot image within the frame of image information;

relating at least a portion of said image characteristic information to a range of graphic values, selecting a graphic value for each image characteristic information, and displaying the selected graphic values arranged generally corresponding to the respective spatial relationship of the respective DNA spot images in the frame of image information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the image characteristic values comprise background and signal intensity levels, the method further comprising the steps of:

for each DNA spot image;

extracting said background and signal intensity levels from at least a portion of the image characteristic values for the spot image, and determining difference values between the background intensity levels and signal intensity levels;

wherein said steps of relating, selecting and displaying further comprises the steps of;

for each DNA spot image;

relating at least a portion of the corresponding difference values to a range of graphic values, selecting a graphic value for each difference value; and

displaying the selected graphic values.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said image information corresponds to a plurality of DNA spot image sets corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, each image set including a plurality of DNA spot images corresponding to a DNA spot.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the steps of relating and selecting include associating each difference value to a segment of a pie chart having multiple segments, and the step of displaying the selected graphic values includes displaying said segments as a pie chart, whereby each pie chart corresponds to a DNA spot.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the area of each segment of each pie chart is a function of the magnitude of the associated difference value.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the DNA spots have a predetermined spatial arrangement, and wherein the step of displaying includes displaying the pie charts in the same spatial arrangement, wherein each pie chart is displayed in the order of appearance of its corresponding DNA spot in said arrangement.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the steps of generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots by steps including:

receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the steps of relating and selecting include associating each difference value to a segment of a bar graph having multiple segments, and the step of displaying the selected graphic values includes displaying said segments as a bar graph, whereby each bar graph corresponds to a DNA spot.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the area of each segment of each bar graph chart is a function of the magnitude of the associated difference value.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the DNA spots have a predetermined spatial arrangement, and wherein the step of displaying includes displaying the bar graphs in the same spatial arrangement, wherein each bar graph is displayed in the order of appearance of its corresponding DNA spot in said arrangement.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots by steps including:

receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

wherein the image information for each DNA spot is generated according to the following steps;

for each DNA spot image;

relating at least a portion of said image characteristic values corresponding values to a range of graphic values;

selecting a graphic value for each image characteristic value; and

, displaying the selected graphic values; and

,

wherein said image information corresponds to a plurality of DNA spot image sets corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, each image set including a plurality of DNA spot images corresponding to a DNA spot.

13. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots by steps including:

receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

14. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

wherein the image information for each DNA spot is generated according to the following steps;

for each DNA spot image;

relating at least a portion of said image characteristic values corresponding values to a range of graphic values;

selecting a graphic value for each image characteristic value; and

, displaying the selected graphic values; and

,

wherein said image information corresponds to a plurality of DNA spot image sets corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, each image set including a DNA spot images corresponding to a DNA spot.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein said image information corresponds to a plurality of DNA spot image sets corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, each image set including a plurality of DNA spot images corresponding to a DNA spot.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the steps of relating and selecting include associating each image characteristic value to a segment of a pie chart having multiple segments, and the step of displaying the selected graphic values includes displaying said segments as a pie chart, whereby each pie chart corresponds to a DNA spot.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the area of each segment of each pie chart is a function of the magnitude of the associated image characteristic value.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the DNA spots have a predetermined spatial arrangement, and wherein the step of displaying includes displaying the pie charts in the same spatial arrangement, wherein each pie chart is displayed in the order of appearance of its corresponding DNA spot in said arrangement.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the steps of generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots by steps including:

receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the steps of relating and selecting include associating each image characteristic value to a segment of a bar graph having multiple segments, and the step of displaying the selected graphic values includes displaying said segments as a bar graph, whereby each bar graph corresponds to a DNA spot.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the area of each segment of each bar graph chart is a function of the magnitude of the associated image characteristic value.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the DNA spots have a predetermined spatial arrangement, and wherein the step of displaying includes displaying the bar graphs in the same spatial arrangement, wherein each bar graph is displayed in the order of appearance of its corresponding DNA spot in said arrangement.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising the steps of generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots by steps including:

receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots by steps including:

receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

25. A software system for configuring a computer system comprising a processor, and a memory device, for displaying image characteristic information for a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, the software system comprising program instructions for:

for each DNA spot image within the frame of image information;

relating at least a portion of said image characteristic information to a range of graphic values, selecting a graphic value for each image characteristic information; and

displaying the selected graphic value, arranged generally corresponding to the respective spatial relationship of the respective DNA spot images in the frame of image information.

26. The software system of claim 25, wherein said image information corresponds to a plurality of DNA spot image sets corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, each image set including a plurality of DNA spot images corresponding to a DNA spot.

27. The software system of claim 26, wherein:

the program instructions for relating and selecting include program instructions for associating each image characteristic value to a segment of a pie chart having multiple segments, and the program instructions for displaying the selected graphic values include program instructions for displaying said segments as a pie chart, whereby each pie chart corresponds to a DNA spot.

28. The software system of claim 27, further comprising program instructions for selecting the area of each segment of each pie chart to be a function of the magnitude of the associated image characteristic value.

29. The software system of claim 28, wherein the DNA spots have a predetermined spatial arrangement, and wherein the program instructions for displaying further include program instructions for displaying the pie charts in the same spatial arrangement, wherein each pie chart is displayed in the order of appearance of its corresponding DNA spot in said arrangement.

30. The software system of claim 29, further including program instructions for generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots by steps including:

receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

31. The software system of claim 26, wherein:

the program instructions for relating and selecting include program instructions for associating each image characteristic value to a segment of a bar graph having multiple segments, and the program instructions for displaying the selected graphic values include program instructions for displaying said segments as a bar graph, whereby each bar graph corresponds to a DNA spot.

32. The software system of claim 31, further comprising program instructions for selecting the area of each segment of each bar graph to be a function of the magnitude of the associated image characteristic value.

33. The software system of claim 32, wherein the DNA spots have a predetermined spatial arrangement, and wherein the program instructions for displaying further include program instructions for displaying the bar graphs in the same spatial arrangement, wherein each bar graph is displayed in the order of appearance of its corresponding DNA spot in said arrangement.

34. The software system of claim 33, further including program instructions for generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots by steps including:

receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

35. The software system of claim 25, further including program instructions for generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots by steps including:

receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

36. The software system of claim 25 wherein the image characteristic values comprise background and signal intensity levels, the software system further comprising program instructions for:

for each DNA spot image;

extracting said background and signal intensity levels from the image characteristic values for the spot image, and (2) determining difference values between the background intensity levels and signal intensity levels;

wherein the program instructions for relating, selecting and displaying comprise program instructions for;

for each DNA spot image;

relating the corresponding difference values to a range of graphic values, selecting a graphic value for each difference value; and

displaying the selected graphic values.

37. The software system of claim 36, wherein said image information corresponds to a plurality of DNA spot image sets corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, each image set including a plurality of DNA spot images corresponding to a DNA spot.

38. The software system of claim 37, wherein:

the program instructions for relating and selecting include program instructions for associating each difference value to a segment of a pie chart having multiple segments, and the program instructions for displaying the selected graphic values include program instructions for displaying said segments as a pie chart, whereby each pie chart corresponds to a DNA spot.

39. The software system of claim 38, further comprising program instructions for selecting the area of each segment of each pie chart to be a function of the magnitude of the associated difference value.

40. The software system of claim 39, wherein the DNA spots have a predetermined spatial arrangement, and wherein the program instructions for displaying further include program instructions for displaying the pie charts in the same spatial arrangement, wherein each pie chart is displayed in the order of appearance of its corresponding DNA spot in said arrangement.

41. The software system of claim 40, further including program instructions for generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots by steps including:

receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

42. The software system of claim 37, wherein:

the program instructions for relating and selecting include program instructions for associating each difference value to a segment of a bar graph having multiple segments, and the program instructions for displaying the selected graphic values include program instructions for displaying said segments as a bar graph, whereby each bar graph corresponds to a DNA spot.

43. The software system of claim 42, further comprising program instructions for selecting the area of each segment of each bar graph to be a function of the magnitude of the associated difference value.

44. The software system of claim 43, wherein the DNA spots have a predetermined spatial arrangement, and wherein the program instructions for displaying further include program instructions for displaying the bar graphs in the same spatial arrangement, wherein each bar graph is displayed in the order of appearance of its corresponding DNA spot in said arrangement.

45. The software system of claim 44, further including program instructions for generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots by steps including:

receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

46. The software system of claim 36, further including program instructions for generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots by steps including:

receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

47. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

wherein the image information for each DNA spot is generated according to the following steps;

for each DNA spot image;

relating at least a portion of said image characteristic values corresponding values to a range of graphic values;

selecting a graphic value for each image characteristic value; and

, displaying the selected graphic values; and

,

wherein said image information corresponds to a plurality of DNA spot image sets corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, each image set including a plurality of DNA spot images corresponding to a DNA spot.

65. The software system of claim 37, wherein:

the means for relating and selecting include means for associating each difference value to a segment of a bar graph having multiple segments, and the means for displaying the selected graphic values include means for displaying said segments as a bar graph, whereby each bar graph corresponds to a DNA spot.

66. The computer system of claim 65, further comprising means for selecting the area of each segment of each bar graph to be a function of the magnitude of the associated difference value.

67. The computer system of claim 66, wherein the DNA spots have a predetermined spatial arrangement, and wherein the means for displaying further include program instructions for displaying the bar graphs in the same spatial arrangement, wherein each bar graph is displayed in the order of appearance of its corresponding DNA spot in said arrangement.

68. The computer system of claim 67, further comprising image generation means for generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots, said image generation means including:

means for receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

means for selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

means for generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

means for modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

means for segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

means for quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

48. A computer system for displaying image characteristic information for a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, the computer system comprising:

means for relating at least a portion of the image characteristic values to a range of graphic values for each DNA spot image within the frame of image information;

means for selecting a graphic value for each image characteristic information; and

means for displaying the selected graphic values arranged generally corresponding to the respective spatial relationship of the respective DNS spot images in the frame of image information.

49. The computer system of claim 48, wherein said image information corresponds to a plurality of DNA spot image sets corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, each image set including a plurality of DNA spot images corresponding to a DNA spot.

50. The computer system of claim 49, wherein:

the means for relating and selecting include means for associating each image characteristic value to a segment of a pie chart having multiple segments, and the means for displaying the selected graphic values include means for displaying said segments as a pie chart, whereby each pie chart corresponds to a DNA spot.

51. The computer system of claim 50, further comprising means for selecting the area of each segment of each pie chart to be a function of the magnitude of the associated image characteristic value.

52. The computer system of claim 51, wherein the DNA spots have a predetermined spatial arrangement, and wherein the means for displaying further include means for displaying the pie charts in the same spatial arrangement, wherein each pie chart is displayed in the order of appearance of its corresponding DNA spot in said arrangement.

53. The computer system of claim 52, further including image generation means for generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots, said image generation means including:

means for receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

means for selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

means for generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

means for modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

means for segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

means for quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

54. The computer system of claim 49, wherein:

the means for relating and selecting include program instructions for associating each image characteristic value to a segment of a bar graph having multiple segments, and the means for displaying the selected graphic values include program instructions for displaying said segments as a bar graph, whereby each bar graph corresponds to a DNA spot.

55. The computer system of claim 54, further comprising means for selecting the area of each segment of each bar graph to be a function of the magnitude of the associated image characteristic value.

56. The computer system of claim 55, wherein the DNA spots have a predetermined spatial arrangement, and wherein the means for displaying further include program instructions for displaying the bar graphs in the same spatial arrangement, wherein each bar graph is displayed in the order of appearance of its corresponding DNA spot in said arrangement.

57. The computer system of claim 56 further including image generation means for generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots, said image generation means including:

means for receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

means for selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

means for generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

means for modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

means for segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

means for quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

58. The computer system of claim 48, further including image generation means for generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots, said image generation means including:

means for receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

means for selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

means for generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

means for modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

means for segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

means for quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

59. The computer system of claim 48, wherein the image characteristic values comprise background and signal intensity levels, the computer system comprising:

means for extracting said background and signal intensity levels from the image characteristic values for each DNA spot image; and

means for determining difference values between the background intensity levels and signal intensity levels for each said DNA spot image;

wherein;

the means for relating relates the corresponding difference values to a range of graphic values;

the means for selecting selects a graphic value for each difference value; and

the means for displaying displays the selected graphic values.

60. The computer of claim 59, wherein said image information correspondent to a plurality of DNA spot image sets corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, each image set including a plurality of DNA spot images corresponding to a DNA spot.

61. The computer system of claim 60, wherein:

the means for relating and selecting include means for associating each difference value to a segment of a pie chart having multiple segments, and the means for displaying the selected graphic values include means for displaying said segments as a pie chart, whereby each pie chart corresponds to a DNA spot.

62. The computer system of claim 61, further comprising means for selecting the area of each segment of each pie chart to be a function of the magnitude of the associated difference value.

63. The computer system of claim 62, wherein the DNA spots have a predetermined spatial arrangement, and wherein the means for displaying further include means for displaying the pie charts in the same spatial arrangement, wherein each pie chart is displayed in the order of appearance of its corresponding DNA spot in said arrangement.

64. The computer system of claim 63, further comprising image generation means for generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots, said image generation means including:

means for receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

means for selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

means for generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

means for modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

means for segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

means for quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.

69. The computer system of claim 59, further comprising image generation means for generating said image characteristic values for one or more DNA spots, said image generation means including:

means for receiving a frame of image information including a plurality of spaced DNA spot images corresponding to a plurality of DNA spots, said image information including image intensity level information corresponding to said DNA spots;

means for selecting a set of image information within said frame including a selected set of the DNA spot images;

means for generating a grid including a plurality of spaced grid points corresponding to said selected DNA spot images, each grid point including position information indicating the position of the grid point within said frame;

means for modifying a current position of at least one grid point corresponding to a spot image in said selected image to shift said grid point toward the corresponding spot image;

means for segmenting the selected set of image information by selecting at least one image segment defining a segment area around a grid point and including a spot image with minimum distance from said grid point; and

means for quantifying at least a portion of image information in said image segment to obtain image characteristic values for said image segment;

wherein the image characteristic values include DNA information for a DNA spot corresponding to the DNA spot image in said image segment, said DNA information including gene expression values.