Patent ID: 7941275

Claim:
An automated method for automated detection of immunohistochemical patterns, comprising: enhancing a digital image of a biological sample to which an immunohistochemical (IHC) compound has been applied; wherein the enhancing step includes: computing digital image statistics of pixel values for each of red, green and blue color planes independently in the digital image; determining whether a standard deviation from the computed digital image statistics in each of the red, green and blue color planes is less than a predetermined value, and if so, determining a maximum intensity value of an original range of intensity values using a distribution of pixel values in the red, green and blue color planes independently; and mapping pixel values in each color plane such that pixel values in an original range of intensity values are mapped to an enhanced range of intensity values to contrast enhance the digital image, removing pre-determined types of unwanted cells in the enhanced digital image from consideration; wherein the step of removing pre-determined types of unwanted cells in the enhanced digital image from consideration includes: segmenting the enhanced digital image into a plurality of objects using a pre-determined Gaussian kernel; calculating a plurality of elongation ratios for the plurality of objects; and removing the pre-determined types of unwanted cells using the calculated plurality of elongation ratios, identifying a plurality of cells of interest in the enhanced digital image; wherein the step of identifying a plurality of cells of interest in the enhanced digital image includes: segmenting the enhanced digital image into a plurality of objects using a pre-determined Gaussian kernel; calculating a plurality of curves of symmetry for the plurality of objects; and identifying the plurality of cells of interest using the calculated plurality of curves of symmetry, identifying one or more areas of interest in the identified plurality of cells of interest in the enhanced digital image; and removing cell artifacts from consideration in the one or more identified areas of interest, thereby creating and displaying one or more enhanced areas of interests used for creating a medical diagnosis or prognosis.