Interface for display of multi-layer images in digital microscopy

A fixed image acquisition digital microscope system for imaging and displaying at least a portion of a specimen on a microscope slide comprising:

• a slide stage movable along an x-axis and a y-axis to a plurality of stationary slide stage positions each defined by x, y slide stage coordinates;
• a first objective lens movable along a z-axis generally perpendicular to the slide stage to a plurality of objective lens positions each having by a different z-axis position;
• a display monitor;
• and
• at least one camera optically coupled to the first objective lens and capable of capturing a Z-stack of field images at each of the plurality of stationary slide stage positions, each Z-stack comprising a plurality of images each captured at 1) a different z-axis position from each other image in the Z-stack, and 2) the same x, y slide stage coordinates;
• at least one processor controlling the operations of the digital microscope system, the at least one processor comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that when executed by the processor:
• cause the at least one camera to capture the Z-stack of field images at each of the plurality of stationary slide stage positions;
• assemble a plurality of deep zoom images from the captured images, wherein each deep zoom image:
• comprises an image of at least a portion of the slide specimen;
• is assembled from a plurality of field images captured by the camera with the first objective lens positioned at the same z-axis position but at different slide stage positions having different x, y slide stage coordinates;
• and
• is characterized by a z-axis position that is different from every other deep zoom image in the plurality of deep zoom images, wherein each z-axis position is associated with a focal plane of the first objective lens;
• cause the cause the display monitor to display a graphical user interface (GUI) comprising:
• an image selection area comprising:
• a plurality of graphical representations, each graphical representation corresponding to one of the plurality of deep zoom images, wherein the relative position of each graphical representation among the plurality of graphical representations in the image selection area indicates the relative z-axis position of the field images from which the corresponding deep zoom image is assembled relative to the z-axis position of each of the other deep zoom images in the plurality of deep zoom images;
• an image selector for selecting one of the plurality of deep zoom images for display;
• and
• an image display area in which at least a portion of the deep zoom image selected for display is displayed simultaneously with the plurality of graphical representations and the image selector.

A digital microscope system for imaging and displaying at least a portion of a specimen on a microscope slide, comprising:

• a slide stage movable along an x-axis and a y-axis to a plurality of different stationary slide stage positions each defined by different x, y slide stage coordinates;
• a first objective lens movable along a z-axis generally perpendicular to the slide stage to a plurality of objective lens positions each having a different z-axis position;
• a polarizer and a polarizer analyzer positionable at a plurality of polarity angles relative to one another;
• at least one camera optically coupled to the first objective lens, the at least one camera being capable of capturing a first plurality of field images at each of a second plurality of stationary slide stage positions, each field image in the first plurality of field images being defined by a different polarity angle between the polarizer and polarizer analyzer from each other field image in the first plurality of field images, and the same x, y slide stage coordinates;
• a display monitor;
• and
• at least one processor controlling the operations of the digital microscope system, the at least one processor comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that when executed by the processor:
• cause the at least one camera to capture the first plurality of field images at each of the second plurality of stationary slide stage positions;
• assemble a plurality of polarized deep zoom images from the captured images, wherein each polarized deep zoom image:
• comprises an image of at least a portion of the slide specimen;
• is assembled from a plurality of field images captured by the at least one camera with the polarizer and polarizer analyzer positioned at the same polarity angle but at different slide stage positions having different x, y slide stage coordinates;
• and
• is characterized by a polarity angle that is different from every other polarized deep zoom image in the plurality of polarized deep zoom images;
• cause the display monitor to provide a graphical user interface (GUI) comprising:
• an image selection area comprising:
• a plurality of graphical representations, wherein each graphical representation corresponds to one of the plurality of polarized deep zoom images, and indicates the polarity angle of the field images from which the corresponding polarized deep zoom image is assembled;
• an image selector for selecting one of the plurality of polarized deep zoom images for display;
• and
• an image display area in which at least a portion of the polarized deep zoom image selected for display is displayed simultaneously with the plurality of graphical representations and the image selector.