Patent ID: 8463015

Claim:
An apparatus for tracking individual cells among a plurality of cells from a previous image frame to a current image frame, comprising: an image receiving device configured to: receive said current and previous image frames; identify observable characteristics including location, intensity, and label for individual cells in the previous frame; identify observable characteristics including location, intensity, and label for individual cells in the current frame; and identify events linking individual cells in the current frame to individual cells in the previous frame based on the observable characteristics identified for individual cells in respective frame; wherein identification of events comprises a particle filter algorithm with an inner layer and an outer layer; each component of the inner layer comprises a cloud of particles configured to pursue an individual cell from the previous frame at a location to the current frame at a next location; the outer layer comprising: determining, for each cloud of particles of the inner layer, a distance to each cell in the current frame; and identifying events from said distances.