Patent ID: 7933435

Claim:
A computerized method for analyzing an original magnified image of cells, comprising the high throughput microscopy system executed steps of: generating a first membrane mask by enhancing the traces of membrane outlines in cells in a normalized original image using at least a first enhancement function and then thresholding the enhanced traces of the membrane outlines; generating a first enhanced membrane image from the first membrane mask; generating a second membrane mask by enhancing the traces of membrane outlines in cells in the normalized original image using at least a second enhancement function and then thresholding the enhanced traces of the membrane outlines; generating a second enhanced membrane image from the second membrane mask; generating a composite enhanced membrane image by combining the first and second enhanced membrane images; generating markers associated with nuclei of the cells; generating a contour mask of membrane outlines with a contour finding function that applies the markers to the composite enhanced membrane image; generating an enhanced membrane mask from the contour mask; and, measuring structures of cellular components in the original image with the enhanced membrane mask.