System and method for automatically analyzing gene expression spots in a microarray

A method of assessing chemical materials manifested as an array of signals, comprising the steps of:

• (a) detecting in the digital image a center-representing pixel and an approximate radius of a signal of a chemical material;
• (b) segmenting the signal;
• and
• (c) assessing the segmented signal;
• the step of segmenting the signal comprising the steps of:
• (ba) classifying pixels within the approximate radius of the center-representing pixel as tentative signal pixels and outside the approximate radius from the center-representing pixel as tentative background pixels;
• (bb) determining a signal major mode for the tentative signal pixels and a background major mode for the tentative background pixels;
• and
• (bc) using pixel intensity relative to the signal major mode and the background major mode to reclassify the tentative signal and background pixels.

A computer readable medium having stored therein one or more sequences of instructions for assessing chemical materials manifested as an array of signals in a digital image, said one or more sequences of instructions causing one or more processors to perform a plurality of acts, said acts comprising:

• detecting in the digital image a center-representing pixel and an approximate radius of an signal of a chemical material;
• segmenting the signal;
• and
• calculating a measure of the segmented signal;
• wherein the signal is segmented by classifying pixels within the approximate radius of the center-representing pixel as tentative signal pixels and outside the approximate radius from the center-representing pixel as tentative background pixels, determining a signal major mode for the tentative signal pixels and a background major mode for the tentative background pixels, and using pixel intensity relative to the signal major mode and the background major mode to reclassify the tentative signal and background pixels.

A method of segmenting a signal of a chemical material in a digital image comprising the steps of:

• (a) detecting in the digital image a center-representing pixel and an approximate radius of the signal;
• (b) classifying pixels within the approximate radius of the center-representing pixel as tentative signal pixels and outside the approximate radius from the center-representing pixel as tentative background pixels;
• (c) determining a signal major mode for the tentative signal pixels and a background major mode for the tentative background pixels;
• and
• (d) using pixel intensity relative to the signal major mode and the background major mode to reclassify the tentative signal and background pixels.