Patent ID: 9001200
Filing Date: 2015-04-07
Classification: G02B,G06K,G06T

Abstract:
1. A method of characterizing cells, the method comprising: forming, using a camera, a series of digital images of a sample containing the cells, each digital image taken at a different focus plane in relation to the sample; automatically identifying, using a specially programmed computer, a cell in at least two of the digital images; and automatically analyzing, using the specially programmed computer, the two digital images to classify the identified cell in the sample as either live or dead; wherein analyzing the two digital images to classify a cell in the sample as either live of dead further comprises recognizing that, based on an analysis of a first of the two digital images, the cell cannot be classified as live; locating the cell in the second digital image; and classifying the cell as live based on an analysis of a second of the two digital images; and wherein locating the cell in the second digital image comprises generating a respective score for each object found in a region of the second one of the two digital images corresponding to a region containing the cell in first digital image, each score indicating a likelihood that the respective object is the cell; and selecting as the cell the object having the highest score.