Patent ID: 11922709
Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 6:
7. A system comprising one or more computers and one or more storage devices on which are stored instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
obtaining a fluorescent in-situ hybridization image of a tissue that depicts a plurality of cells;
obtaining a nuclear stained image of the tissue;
generating a mask that includes a plurality of areas that each have a position with respect to the tissue by:
enhancing, in the fluorescent in-situ hybridization image, structures depicted in the fluorescent in-situ hybridization image; and
detecting edges of cells depicted in the enhanced fluorescent in-situ hybridization image to use for the mask;

determining positions for a first plurality of regions that fit potential nuclei depicted in the nuclear stained image;
selecting a second plurality of regions from the first plurality of regions by determining, using the mask, which regions from the first plurality of regions overlap with the position of an area from the plurality of areas in the mask; and
labelling unique nuclei in the tissue using the second plurality of regions that i) each indicate a potential nucleus in the tissue and ii) were selected as the regions from the first plurality of regions that overlap with the position of an area from the plurality of areas in the mask, the labeling comprising:
associating each region in the second plurality of regions with a nuclei cluster;
for each of the nuclei clusters:
determining, for each region associated with the nuclei cluster, an area of overlap between the region and a closest region in the nuclei cluster using the positions of the regions with respect to the tissue; and
generating a first mask that represents each region associated with the nuclei cluster whose area of overlap satisfies a threshold overlap and size satisfies a first threshold size using the nuclear stained image;
generating a second mask that represents each region associated with the nuclei cluster whose area of overlap satisfies the threshold overlap and size satisfies a second threshold size smaller than the first threshold size using the nuclear stained image;
generating a third mask using a difference between the first mask and the second mask, the third mask including one or more subtracted regions that represent the difference;
updating the first mask to include the subtracted regions from the third mask that overlap with a region represented by the second mask and do not depict a unique nucleus; and
labelling the unique nuclei of the tissue using the first mask, the second mask, and the third mask.