System and method for microscopic image processing and determining microglia activation state using processed images

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing a processing circuitry to execute a process, the process comprising:

• identifying a plurality of microglial cells shown in a plurality of microglial cell channel images, wherein identifying the plurality of microglial cells further comprises quantizing the plurality of microglial cell channel images and filtering a plurality of objects in the quantized plurality of microglial cell channel images;
• identifying a soma and at least one projection for each of the plurality of microglial cells, wherein identifying the soma and the at least one projection for each microglial cell further comprises iteratively removing pixels on the microglial cell as shown in one of the plurality of microglial cell channel images, wherein each soma and each projection has a respective size, wherein each soma has an area, wherein each projection has a length;
• and
• determining an activation state of each microglial cell based on the size of the soma and a total size of the at least one projection identified for the microglial cell, wherein determining the activation state further comprises calculating a ratio between the area of the soma and a total length of the at least one projection identified for the microglial cell, wherein the activation state is determined based on the calculated ratio.

A system for processing microscopic images, comprising:

• a processing circuitry;
• and
• a memory, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, configure the system to:
• identify a plurality of microglial cells shown in a plurality of microglial cell channel images, wherein identifying the plurality of microglial cells further comprises quantizing the plurality of microglial cell channel images and filtering a plurality of objects in the quantized plurality of microglial cell channel images;
• identify a soma and at least one projection for each of the plurality of microglial cells, wherein identifying the soma and the at least one projection for each microglial cell further comprises iteratively removing pixels on the microglial cell as shown in one of the plurality of microglial cell channel images, wherein each soma and each projection has a respective size, wherein each soma has an area, wherein each projection has a length;
• and
• determine an activation state of each microglial cell based on the size of the soma and a total size of the at least one projection identified for the microglial cell, wherein the system is further configured to calculate a ratio between the area of the soma and a total length of the at least one projection identified for the microglial cell, wherein the activation state is determined based on the calculated ratio.