Automatic sharpness adjustment for imaging modalities

An apparatus for generating a frequency map representing a density of objects found in a plurality of regions of a sample, the apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

• binarize a plurality of pixels for a raw image of the sample to transform the raw image into binary data comprising a value of one or zero set for each pixel of the plurality of pixels to quantize the raw image into two discrete intensity levels;
• generate a plurality of run-length encoded components from the binary data for each of a plurality of dimensions for the raw image, each of the plurality of run-length encoded components for a particular dimension comprising a length of a sequence of adjacent pixels found in the particular dimension with the same value in the binary data;
• generate at least one projection of the raw image based at least in part on a projection value for each of the plurality of dimensions, the projection value for a particular dimension providing a measure of the density of the objects present in the particular dimension based at least in part on each unique value of the run-length encoded components generated for the particular dimension and a frequency of occurrence of the unique value;
• determine a classification for each region of the plurality of regions based at least in part on the at least one projection of the raw image, wherein the classification represents a level of density of the corresponding region;
• and
• generate the frequency map comprising the determined classification for each region of the plurality of regions of the sample, wherein the frequency map is used to set at least one parameter of an imaging equipment for acquiring a second image of at least one region of the plurality of regions of the sample.

A non-transitory computer storage medium comprising instructions for generating a frequency map representing a density of objects found in a plurality of regions of a sample, the instructions being configured to cause one or more processors to at least perform operations configured to:

• binarize a plurality of pixels for a raw image of the sample to transform the raw image into binary data comprising a value of one or zero set for each pixel of the plurality of pixels to quantize the raw image into two discrete intensity levels;
• generate a plurality of run-length encoded components from the binary data for each of a plurality of dimensions for the raw image, each of the plurality of run-length encoded components for a particular dimension comprising a length of a sequence of adjacent pixels found in the particular dimension with the same value in the binary data;
• generate at least one projection of the raw image based at least in part on a projection value for each of the plurality of dimensions, the projection value for a particular dimension providing a measure of the density of the objects present in the particular dimension based at least in part on each unique value of the run-length encoded components generated for the particular dimension and a frequency of occurrence of the unique value;
• determine a classification for each region of the plurality of regions based at least in part on the at least one projection of the raw image, wherein the classification represents a level of density of the corresponding region;
• and
• generate the frequency map comprising the determined classification for each region of the plurality of regions of the sample, wherein the frequency map is used to set at least one parameter of an imaging equipment for acquiring a second image of at least one region of the plurality of regions of the sample.