Patent ID: 8774488
Filing Date: 2014-07-08
Classification: C12N,C12Q

Abstract:
1. A method of identifying a nucleated fetal cell, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining a maternal blood sample; removing non-nucleated cells from the maternal blood sample to thereby create an enriched maternal blood sample; adhering cells from the enriched maternal blood sample to a surface; staining the cells with a nuclear stain to thereby produce a plurality of cells having stained nuclei; generating a pair of images corresponding to the same cell wherein one image of the pair of images shows the stained nucleus of the cell; applying an algorithm to the pair of images to determine that the shown cell is a nucleated red blood cell; treating the nucleated red blood cell with a fetal identifier after the applying an algorithm step to thereby generate a treated cell; and performing an analysis on the treated cell using the fetal identifier to identify the treated cell as a nucleated fetal cell.