Systems for analyzing microtissue arrays
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- staining a tissue microarray with a first stain and a second stain to obtain a stained tissue microarray, each of the first stain and the second stain selectively staining portions of the tissue microarray;
capturing an image of the stained tissue microarray, the image including a plurality of specimen images;
analyzing the image to identify a first color vector corresponding to the first stain and a second color vector corresponding to the second stain; and
measuring a presence of each one of the first color vector and the second color vector in one or more of the plurality of specimen images.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A tissue microarray imaging system autonomously images, analyzes, and stores data for samples in a tissue microarray. The system may include a tissue microarray, a robotic microscope, and an imaging workstation that executes software to automatically control operation of the microscope to capture images from the microarray and analyze image results. A low magnification may be used to register samples within the microarray and obtain coordinates for each tissue specimen. Progressively higher magnifications may be used to analyze images of each registered specimen. Where multiple dyes are used to stain specimens, color separation techniques may be applied to independently measure and analyze each staining intensity. Images and quantitative data from the images may then be stored in a relational database for subsequent review. The system may be local, or may be Web-based for distributed control and sharing of results.
48 Citations
21 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
staining a tissue microarray with a first stain and a second stain to obtain a stained tissue microarray, each of the first stain and the second stain selectively staining portions of the tissue microarray; capturing an image of the stained tissue microarray, the image including a plurality of specimen images; analyzing the image to identify a first color vector corresponding to the first stain and a second color vector corresponding to the second stain; and measuring a presence of each one of the first color vector and the second color vector in one or more of the plurality of specimen images. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A computer program embodied in a computer readable medium comprising:
-
computer executable code for capturing an image of a stained tissue microarray stained with a first stain and a second stain, the image including a plurality of specimen images; computer executable code for analyzing the image to identify a first color vector corresponding to the first stain and a second color vector corresponding to the second stain; and computer executable code for measuring a presence of each one of the first color vector and the second color vector in one or more of the plurality of specimen images.
-
-
11. A system comprising:
-
staining means for staining a tissue microarray with a first stain and a second stain to obtain a stained tissue microarray, each of the first stain and the second stain selectively staining portions of the tissue microarray; imaging means for capturing an image of the stained tissue microarray, the image including a plurality of specimen images; first computing means for analyzing the image to identify a first color vector corresponding to the first stain and a second color vector corresponding to the second stain; and second computing means for measuring a presence of each one of the first color vector and the second color vector in one or more of the plurality of specimen images.
-
- 12. A system comprising an imaging device and a computer, the imaging device responsive to a control signal to provide images at a specified magnification and a specified location within a tissue microarray, and the computer providing the control signal to the imaging device and receiving the images provided by the imaging device, the computer configured to analyze images of the tissue microarray to identify one or more color vectors associated with one or more dyes used to stain the tissue microarray, the computer further configured to capture a specimen image of each one of one or more specimens within the tissue microarray and to measure a presence of each one of the one or more color vectors within each specimen image.
-
21. A method comprising:
-
staining a tissue microarray with a first stain and a second stain to obtain a stained tissue microarray, each of the first stain and the second stain selectively staining portions of the tissue microarray; capturing an image of the stained tissue microarray, the stained tissue microarray including a plurality of discs, each disc including a sample of a biological specimen; locating a first group of discs from the plurality of discs using one or more visual features of the first group of discs; identifying a grid defined by the first group of discs; locating a second group of discs from the plurality of discs using the grid to locate discs which do not include the one or more visual features of the first group of discs; capturing a specimen image of each one of the first group of discs and the second group of discs to provide a plurality of specimen images; analyzing the image of the stained tissue microarray to identify a first color vector corresponding to the first stain and a second color vector corresponding to the second stain; and measuring a presence of each one of the first color vector and the second color vector in one or more of the plurality of specimen images.
-
Specification