Patent ID: 7680603

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of determining the elbow or cycle threshold (Ct) value in a region of a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) data curve, the method comprising the steps all of which are, implemented in a computer system having a processor, of: receiving a PCR data set representing a PCR data curve, said data set including a plurality of data points each having a pair of coordinate values, wherein if viewed in a two-dimensional coordinate system the data set has a region of interest; applying a first rotational transformation to at least a portion of the data set including the region of interest comprising an elbow or cycle threshold (Ct) value to produce a transformed data set; identifying a data point in the transformed data set having at least one of a minimum coordinate value or a maximum coordinate value; applying a second rotational transformation, inverse to the first transformation, to the identified data point; and thereafter re-determining at least one coordinate value of the identified data point, wherein the re-determined coordinate value of the identified data point represents the Ct value in the PCR data curve.