Patent ID: 7130458

Claim:
A method for analyzing biological activity from a pixilated scanned image of a probe array, wherein the image includes a plurality of features corresponding to emissions detected from the probe array, comprising the steps of: (a) aligning a first grid having one or more first-grid cells with a first portion of the image; (b) selecting one or more cells of the aligned first-grid cells each selected cell associated with one of the features, wherein each cell is selected when a distribution of a first set of one or more pixels each comprising an intensity value are located at or near a center position of an area bounded by a plurality of grid lines defining the cell and an average of the intensity values of the first set of pixels exceeds a threshold value; (c) selecting a second set of one or more pixels proximate to the pixels of the first set within each selected cell, wherein each pixel of the second set comprises an intensity value that exceeds the threshold; (d) associating an intensity value with the feature of each selected cell, wherein the intensity value associated with the feature is an average value of the intensities of the pixels in the first and second sets; (e) aligning a second grid having one or more second-aid cells with a second portion of the image; (f) selecting one or more cells of the aligned second-grid cells each selected cell associated with one of the features, wherein each cell is selected when a distribution of a first set of one or more pixels each comprising an intensity value are located at or near a center position of an area bounded by a plurality of grid lines defining the cell and an average of the intensity values of the first set of pixels exceeds a threshold value; (g) selecting a second set of one or more pixels proximate to the pixels of the first set within each selected cell, wherein each pixel of the second set comprises an intensity value that exceeds the threshold value; and (h) associating an intensity value with the feature of each selected cell, wherein the intensity value associated with the feature is an average value of the intensities of the pixels in the first and second sets.