# US 10,482,605 B2 · Cell area determination method, cell imaging system, and cell image processing apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,482,605 B2 - Document ID: US10482605B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/391,311 - Filed: 2016-12-27 - Published: 2017-06-29 - Granted: 2019-11-19 - Earliest claimed: 2015-12-28 - Assignees: Sysmex Corporation; National University Corporation Tokyo Medical and Dental University - Applicants: Sysmex Corporation; National University Corporation Tokyo Medical and Dental University - Inventors: Kazumi Hakamada; Yuki Aihara; Masaya Okada; Toshiyuki Sato; Ichiro Sekiya; Eiji Kobayashi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10482605B2 ## CPC - G06T 7/13: Edge detection - G06T 5/50: using two or more images, e.g. averaging or subtraction - G06T 7/136: involving thresholding - G06T 7/174: involving the use of two or more images - G06T 7/194: involving foreground-background segmentation - G06T 7/90: Determination of colour characteristics - G06T 7/97: {Determining parameters from multiple pictures (depth or shape recovery from multiple images G06T7/55; stereo camera calibration G06T7/85)} - G06V 20/695: {Preprocessing, e.g. image segmentation} - G06T 2207/10056: Microscopic image - G06T 2207/10152: Varying illumination - G06T 2207/30024: Cell structures in vitro; Tissue sections in vitro - G06T 2207/30052: Implant; Prosthesis - G06T 2207/30221: Sports video; Sports image - G06V 20/69: Microscopic objects, e.g. biological cells or cellular parts - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING ## Abstract A method comprises obtaining a first cell image of a cell by a first observation method, obtaining a second cell image of the cell by a second observation method that is different from the first observation method, and determining the region of the cell based on the first cell image and the second cell image. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: obtaining a first cell image of a cell by a first observation method; obtaining a second cell image of the cell by a second observation method that is different from the first observation method; and determining a region of the cell based on the first cell image and the second cell image, wherein determining the region of the cell further comprises: determining a first cell region in the first cell image based on the first cell image; determining a second cell region in the second cell image based on the second cell image; generating a composite image by overlaying the first cell region and the second cell region; identifying a first noise region included in the first cell region based on the size of the region, and performing a first noise removal process to remove the first noise region from the first cell region; and identifying a second noise region included in the second cell region based on the size of the region, and performing a second noise removal process to remove the second noise region from the second cell region; the first cell region used to generate the composite image is a first cell region from which the first noise region has been removed; and the second cell region used to generate the composite image is a second cell region from which the second noise region has been removed. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the second observation method is a dark field observation method; and the second cell image is a dark field image of the cell. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first observation method is a phase difference observation method; and the first cell image is a phase difference image of the cell. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein determining the second cell region comprises: in the dark field image, determining a region having a degree of brightness higher than a third threshold value. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first cell image and the second cell image are color images; the first noise removal process is respectively performed on the red image, green image, and blue image of the first cell image; and the second noise removal process is respectively performed on the red image, green image, and blue image of the second cell image. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein determining the region of a cell comprises: performing a hole fill-in process on the holes generated in the region of cells. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) A method of claim 1, wherein the cell is an unstained cell. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) A method of claim 1, wherein the cell is cell for transplantation. ### Claim 9 A cell imaging system, comprising: an imaging part configured to generate a first cell image by imaging a cell using a first observation method, and generate a second cell image by imaging the cell using a second observation method that is different from the first observation method; and a processing part configured to execute image processing, wherein the image processing comprises: obtaining the first cell image from the imaging part; obtaining the second cell image from the imaging part; and determining a region of the cell based on the first cell image and the second cell image, wherein determining the region of the cell further comprises: determining a first cell region in the first cell image based on the first cell image; determining a second cell region in the second cell image based on the second cell image; generating a composite image by overlaying the first cell region and the second cell region; identifying a first noise region included in the first cell region based on the size of the region, and performing a first noise removal process to remove the first noise region from the first cell region; and identifying a second noise region included in the second cell region based on the size of the region, and performing a second noise removal process to remove the second noise region from the second cell region; the first cell region used to generate the composite image is a first cell region from which the first noise region has been removed; and the second cell region used to generate the composite image is a second cell region from which the second noise region has been removed. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The cell imaging system of claim 9, wherein the imaging part comprises: a dark field observation optical system comprising an irradiation optical system configured to irradiate light toward the cell and an light receiving optical system configured to receive the scattered light from the cell to obtain a dark field image as the second cell image; and an installation part in which to install the culture container of cells. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The cell imaging system of claim 10, wherein the irradiation optical system is provided so as to irradiate light from the bottom surface side of the culture container installed in the installation part; and the light receiving optical system is provided so as to receive the scattered light at the bottom surface side of the culture container installed in the installation part. ### Claim 12 A processing apparatus comprising a processing part configured to execute processes of: obtaining a first cell image of a cell by a first observation method; obtaining a second cell image of the cell by a second observation method that is different from the first observation method; and determining a region of the cell based on the first cell image and the second cell image, wherein determining the region of the cell further comprises: determining a first cell region in the first cell image based on the first cell image; determining a second cell region in the second cell image based on the second cell image; generating a composite image by overlaying the first cell region and the second cell region; identifying a first noise region included in the first cell region based on the size of the region, and performing a first noise removal process to remove the first noise region from the first cell region; and identifying a second noise region included in the second cell region based on the size of the region, and performing a second noise removal process to remove the second noise region from the second cell region; the first cell region used to generate the composite image is a first cell region from which the first noise region has been removed; and the second cell region used to generate the composite image is a second cell region from which the second noise region has been removed. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The processing apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first observation method is a phase difference observation method; and the first cell image is a phase difference image of the cell. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The processing apparatus of claim 12, wherein the second observation method is a dark field observation method; and the second cell image is a dark field image of the cell. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The processing apparatus of claim 13, wherein determining the first cell region comprises: in the phase difference image, determining a region having a degree of brightness higher than a first threshold value, and a region having a degree of brightness lower than a second threshold value that is less than the first threshold value as the first cell region. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The processing apparatus of claim 14, wherein determining the second cell region comprises: in the dark field image, determining a region having a degree of brightness higher than a third threshold value. ### Claim 17 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein determining the first cell region comprises: in the phase difference image, determining a region having a degree of brightness higher than a first threshold value, and a region having a degree of brightness lower than a second threshold value that is less than the first threshold value as the first cell region. ### Claim 18 (depends on 10) The cell imaging system of claim 10, wherein the first observation method is a phase difference observation method; and the first cell image is a phase difference image of the cell.