Patent ID: 7957911

Claim:
A method of analyzing a biological sample, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a biological sample comprised of at least one cell with a first and a second labeled species; (b) acquiring images of the first and second labeled species in the biological sample; (c) detecting at least one image object in the image of the first labeled species; (d) generating an annular mask for the object detected in step (c) by dilating the object and comparing the dilated representation of the object with the non dilated object; (e) generating an eroded mask for the object detected in step (c) by eroding the object; (f) calculating registered intensity in the image of the second labeled species for the corresponding image areas defined by the annular mask and by the eroded mask respectively, and (g) correlating the calculated intensity values for the image of the second labeled species in the respective image areas comprising graphic superimposition of the annular mask and the eroded mask, and calculating the ratio of eroded to annular averaged pixel intensities under the eroded and annular masks.