Method apparatus for image analysis
OwnerCameron W. Tanner, Patrick D. Tepeschinventors
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Abstract
Image analysis techniques may be provided. Location of objects in an image may be determined based on intensity characteristics of pixels in the image. Objects that have been located may be mapped to a source for the objects based for example, on a grid structure that may have been used to place the objects. Differential analysis of objects of two source materials in images may be determined based on aligned versions of the images. Filtering may be used to weigh pixel characteristics. Such object analysis techniques may have been encoded into a set of machine-executable instructions and stored on a machine-readable storage medium for use by equipment that is to perform the techniques.
Claims132
A method for automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of points in the image, comprising:
- determining whether a current point in the image and two adjacent points have intensities that are approximately above a minimum threshold intensity;
- and
- identifying whether part of a new spot is located at the current point based only on the intensities of the two adjacent points when the current point has an intensity that is approximately above the minimum threshold intensity.
A method of automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- determining whether a current pixel in the image and two pixels adjacent to the current pixel have intensities that are approximately within a threshold range;
- identifying whether part of a new spot is located at the current pixel based only on the intensities of the two adjacent pixels when the current pixel has an intensity that is approximately within the threshold range;
- and
- repeating said determining and said identifying to identify a high density array of spots.
A method for automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- searching for a first pixel that has an intensity that is approximately above a threshold intensity;
- determining that a part of a new spot is located at the first pixel in response to said searching;
- searching only nearest neighbors recursively starting from the first pixel to identify which ones of the pixels in the image are part of the new spot based on the threshold intensity;
- and
- repeating said searching for a first pixel, said determining, and said searching to identify a high density array of spots in the image.
A method for automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- searching serially for a first pixel that has an intensity that is approximately above a threshold intensity;
- determining that part of a new spot is located at the first pixel in response to said searching;
- and
- searching only nearest neighbors recursively starting from the first pixel to identify which ones of the pixels in the image are part of the new spot based on the threshold intensity.
A method for automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- determining an integrated intensity for each of a plurality of particularly-shaped regions that are each centered on a different one of a plurality of pixels in the image;
- and
- identifying that a new spot is located in one of the regions based on the integrated intensity of that region in relation to the integrated intensities of the other regions.
A method for automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- determining an integrated intensity for a plurality of particularly-shaped regions that are each centered on a different one of a plurality of pixels in the image;
- determining which one of the regions has a highest integrated intensity in relation to the rest of the regions to identify which one of the regions includes a new spot;
- and
- setting any of the regions that overlap the region having the highest integrated intensity to have a lowest integrated intensity.
A method for relating a plurality of spots that have been placed on a slide to a grid comprising grid points that were used in placing the spots on the slide, comprising:
- providing an image that is representative of the slide;
- determining where the spots are located in the image;
- mapping the grid on to the image using a plurality of test locations on the image as origins for the grid to determine a best origin for the grid in relation to the spots;
- and
- assigning each spot to one of the grid points in the grid based on evaluating which grid point is nearest to the location of that spot.
A method for using intensities of pixels in a current image having a plurality of spots to filter further images comprising:
- identifying in a current image a plurality of similarly-shaped regions that each include one of the spots that each include a plurality of pixels;
- and
- determining an average intensity profile for the regions based on averaging intensities for the pixels that are approximately in the same location in each of the identified regions;
- and
- filtering intensities in further images using the average intensity profile.
A method for analyzing a plurality of spots that are placed on a slide to test expressions of a plurality of source materials in the spots based on a plurality of images that are each differently representative of the slide, wherein locations of the spots in the images have been determined, comprising:
- determining an aligned image for each of a plurality of the images based on the locations of spots in one of the plurality of images in relation to the location of spots in each of the other images;
- determining a composite image based on the aligned images;
- determining which areas in the composite image comprises spots;
- and
- analyzing areas in one of the aligned images for expressions of one of the source materials based on the areas that were determined to comprise spots in the composite image.
A method for automatically determining where spots in an image are located based on intensities of a plurality of pixels in the image, comprising:
- determining a threshold intensity for a particular image region based on intensities of a portion of the pixels in that region;
- and
- determining whether one of the spots is at least partly located in the region based on the threshold intensity determined for that region.
A method for automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image comprising:
- determining an integrated intensity for each of a plurality of regions in the image;
- sorting the integrated intensities in the regions in descending order;
- and
- claiming some of the regions to contain spots based on determining the highest integrated intensity among the regions while setting the integrated intensities for the regions that overlap the claimed regions to be a lowest integrated intensity.
A machine-readable storage medium encoded with a set of machine executable instructions for using image analysis equipment to perform a method for automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of points in the image, comprising:
- determining whether a current point in the image and two adjacent points have intensities that are approximately above a minimum threshold intensity;
- and
- identifying whether part of a new spot is located at the current point based only on the intensities of the two adjacent points when the current point has an intensity that is approximately above the minimum threshold intensity.
A machine-readable storage medium encoded with a set of machine executable instructions for using image analysis equipment to perform a method of automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- determining whether a current pixel in the image and two pixels adjacent to the current pixel have intensities that are approximately within a threshold range;
- identifying whether part of a new spot that is located at the current pixel based only on the intensities of the two adjacent pixels when the current pixel has an intensity that is approximately within the threshold range;
- and
- repeating said determining and said identifying to identify a high density array of spots.
A machine-readable storage medium encoded with a set of machine executable instructions for using image analysis equipment to perform a method for automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- searching for a first pixel that has an intensity that is approximately above a threshold intensity;
- determining that a part of a new spot is located at the first pixel in response to said searching;
- searching only nearest neighbors recursively starting from the first pixel to identify which ones of the pixels in the image are part of the new spot based on the threshold intensity;
- and
- repeating said searching for a first pixel, said determining, and said searching to identify a high density array of spots in the image.
A machine-readable storage medium encoded with a set of machine executable instructions for using image analysis equipment to perform a method for automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- searching serially for a first pixel that has an intensity that is approximately above a threshold intensity;
- determining that part of a new spot is located at the first pixel in response to said searching;
- and
- searching only nearest neighbors recursively starting from the first pixel to identify which ones of the pixels in the image are part of the new spot based on the threshold intensity.
A machine-readable storage medium encoded with a set of machine executable instructions for using image analysis equipment to perform a method for automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- determining an integrated intensity for each of a plurality of particularly-shaped regions that are each centered on one of a plurality of pixels in the image;
- and
- identifying that a new spot is located in one of the regions based on the integrated intensity of that region in relation to the integrated intensities of the other regions.
A machine-readable storage medium encoded with a set of machine executable instructions for using image analysis equipment to perform a method for automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- determining an integrated intensity for a plurality of particularly-shaped regions that are each centered on one of a plurality of pixels in the image;
- determining which one of the regions has a highest integrated intensity in relation to the rest of the regions to identify which one of the regions includes a new spot;
- and
- setting any of the regions that overlap the region having the highest integrated intensity to have a lowest integrated intensity.
A machine-readable storage medium encoded with a set of machine executable instructions for using image analysis equipment to perform a method for relating a plurality of spots that have been placed on a slide to a grid comprising grid points that were used in placing the spots on the slide, comprising:
- providing an image that is representative of the slide;
- determining where the spots are located in the image;
- mapping the grid on to the image using a plurality of test locations on the image as origins for the grid to determine a best origin for the grid in relation to the spots;
- and
- assigning each spot to one of the grid points in the grid based on evaluating which grid point is nearest to the location of that spot.
A machine-readable storage medium encoded with a set of machine executable instructions for using image analysis equipment to perform a method for using intensities of pixels in a current image having a plurality of spots to filter further images comprising:
- identifying in a current image a plurality of similarly-shaped regions that each include one of the spots that each include a plurality of pixels;
- and
- determining an average intensity profile for the regions based on averaging intensities for the pixels that are approximately in the same location in each of the identified regions;
- and
- filtering intensities in further images using the average intensity profile.
A machine-readable storage medium encoded with a set of machine executable instructions for using image analysis equipment to perform a method for analyzing a plurality of spots that are placed on a slide to test expressions of a plurality of source materials in the spots based on a plurality of images that are each differently representative of the slide, wherein locations of the spots in the images have been determined, comprising:
- determining an aligned image for each of a plurality of the images based on the locations of spots in one of the plurality of images in relation to the location of spots in each of the other images;
- determining a composite image based on the aligned images;
- determining which areas in the composite image comprises spots;
- and
- analyzing areas in one of the aligned images for expressions of one of the source materials based on the areas that were determined to comprise spots in the composite image.
A machine-readable storage medium encoded with a set of machine executable instructions for using image analysis equipment to perform a method for automatically determining where spots in an image are located based on intensities of a plurality of pixels in the image, comprising:
- determining a threshold intensity for a particular image region based on intensities of a portion of the pixels in that region;
- and
- determining whether one of the spots is at least partly located in the region based on the threshold intensity determined for that region.
A machine-readable storage medium encoded with a set of machine executable instructions for using image analysis equipment to perform a method for automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image comprising:
- determining an integrated intensity for each of a plurality of regions in the image;
- sorting the integrated intensities in the regions in descending order;
- and
- claiming some of the regions to contain spots based on determining the highest integrated intensity among the regions while setting the integrated intensities for the regions that overlap the claimed regions to be a lowest integrated intensity.
A method of automatically locating objects in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- determining whether a current pixel in the image and two pixels adjacent to the current pixel have intensities that are approximately within a threshold range;
- and
- identifying whether part of a new object is located at the current pixel based only on the intensities of the two adjacent pixels when the current pixel has an intensity that is approximately within the threshold range.
A method for automatically locating objects in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- searching for a first pixel that has an intensity that is approximately above a threshold intensity;
- determining that a part of a new object is located at the first pixel in response to said searching;
- and
- searching only nearest neighbors recursively starting from the first pixel to identify which ones of the pixels in the image are part of the new object based on the threshold intensity.
A method for automatically locating objects in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- determining an integrated intensity for each of a plurality of particularly-shaped regions that are each centered on a different one of a plurality of pixels in the image;
- and
- identifying that a new object is located in one of the regions based on the integrated intensity of that region in relation to the integrated intensities of the other regions.
A method for automatically locating spots in an image based on intensities of pixels in the image, comprising:
- determining an integrated intensity for each of a plurality of particularly-shaped regions that are each centered on a different one of a plurality of pixels in the image;
- identifying that a new spot is located in one of the regions based on the integrated intensity of that region in relation to the integrated intensities of the other regions;
- and
- repeating said determining and said identifying to identify a high density array of spots in that image.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.