Method and device for image-based biological data quantification

• US 8,583,379 B2
• Filed: 01/25/2012
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thales DIS France SA
• Original Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Inventors: Li, Songtao, Hsieh, Ming, Tang, Xian, Wang, Ankuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Clow, Lori A
• Application Number:
  US13/358,244
• Publication Number:
  US 20120120233A1
• Time in Patent Office: 657 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 702/19
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30072 Microarray; Biochip, DNA array; Well plate
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 Biomedical image inspection

Abstract

A device and method for determining a concentration of a biological target including capturing an image of a ticket that contains the biological target; extracting a region of interest from the captured image; detecting a target from the extracted region of interest; computing intensity of the target in the region of interest; and determining the concentration of the biological target according to the computed intensity.

Claims

1. A method for determining a concentration of a biological target, the method comprising:

capturing an image of a ticket including the biological target by an optical module;

extracting a region of interest from the captured image;

adjusting, by a processor, the captured image to meet pre-configured image attributes by performing a grayscale compensation for captured image based on the difference between the captured image and the pre-configured image attributes;

detecting a target from the extracted region of interest;

computing intensity of the target in the region of interest, by the processor; and

determining the concentration of the biological target according to the computed intensity by the processor, wherein computing intensity by the processor comprises computing the intensity of the target in the region of interest according to image grayscale differences of image grayscale values between the target and a background area.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein computing intensity by the processor comprises:

computing an average grayscale value for the target area and the background area;

computing an average grayscale value for the target area;

computing an average grayscale value for the background area; and

computing the target intensity responsive to the average grayscale for the target area and the average grayscale for the background area.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the concentration comprises selecting pre-determined data related to intensity and concentration of the target, and determining the concentration of the target according to the pre-determined data.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the pre-determined data is a look-up table stored in a memory.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting a target comprises:

computing a gradient magnitude value for each pixel in the region of interest;

comparing the computed gradient magnitude value to a pre-determined threshold value; and

classifying a pixel as being within the region of interest, if the computed gradient magnitude value of the pixel is larger than the pre-determined threshold value.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the concentration of the biological target.

7. The device of claim 1, further comprising a display panel for displaying the concentration of the biological target.

8. A portable device for determining a concentration of a biological target comprising:

an optical module capturing an image of a ticket including the biological target;

a sensor for converting the captured image to digital data; and

a processor for processing the digital data, the processor comprising;

an image calibration module for checking the ticket validity from the captured image and for adjusting the captured image to meet pre-configured image attributes by performing a grayscale compensation for captured image based on the difference between the captured image and the pre-configured image attributes,

a target detection module for detecting a target from the extracted region of interest, and

a target quantification module for computing intensity of the target in the region of interest and determining the concentration of the biological target according to the computed intensity, wherein computing intensity comprises computing the intensity of the target in the region of interest according to image grayscale differences of image grayscale values between the target and a background area.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the target quantification module computes an average grayscale value for the target area and the background area, computes an average grayscale value for the target area, computes an average grayscale value for the background area, and computes the target intensity responsive to the average grayscale for the target area and the average grayscale for the background area.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein the target quantification module selects pre-determined data related to intensity and concentration of the target and determines the concentration of the target according to the pre-determined data.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the pre-determined data is a look-up table stored in a memory.

12. The device of claim 8, wherein the target detection module computes a gradient magnitude value for each pixel in the region of interest, compares the computed gradient magnitude value to a pre-determined threshold value, and classifies a pixel as being within the region of interest, if the computed gradient magnitude value of the pixel is larger than the pre-determined threshold value.

13. A device for determining a concentration of a biological target comprising:

means for capturing an image of a ticket including the biological target;

means for extracting a region of interest from the captured image;

means for detecting a target from the extracted region of interest;

means for adjusting the captured image to meet pre-configured image attributes by performing a grayscale compensation for captured image based on the difference between the captured image and the pre-configured image attributes;

means for computing intensity of the target in the region of interest; and

means for determining the concentration of the biological target according to the computed intensity.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein means for computing intensity comprises:

means for computing an average grayscale value for the target area and the background area;

means for computing an average grayscale value for the target area;

means for computing an average grayscale value for the background area; and

means for computing the target intensity responsive to the average grayscale for the target area and the average grayscale for the background area.

15. The device of claim 13, wherein means for determining the concentration comprises:

means for selecting pre-determined data related to intensity and concentration of the target, and

means for determining the concentration of the target according to the pre-determined data.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the pre-determined data is a look-up table stored in a memory.

17. The device of claim 13, wherein means for detecting a target comprises:

means for computing a gradient magnitude value for each pixel in the region of interest;

means for comparing the computed gradient magnitude value to a pre-determined threshold; and

means for classifying a pixel as being within the region of interest, if the computed gradient magnitude value of the pixel is larger than the pre-determined threshold value.