Image analysis – Applications – Biomedical applications
Reexamination Certificate
1997-10-03
2001-05-08
Patel, Jay (Department: 2623)
Image analysis
Applications
Biomedical applications
C382S224000, C422S068100, C702S021000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06229912
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a particle image analyzing apparatus in which images of particles suspended in a liquid sample are picked up in order to analyze the particles and, more particularly, relates to a particle image analyzing apparatus suitable for analysis of cells or particles contained in blood or urine.
For example, cells or particles contained in blood or urine have been heretofore analyzed by preparing a specific sample on a microscope slide and observing it through a microscope. As for urine, because the concentration of particles in urine is low, a sample of urine is centrifugally condensed by a centrifugal separator before the sample is observed.
There is an apparatus for automatizing these observing and examining operations. In the automatizing apparatus, a microscope slide is smeared with a sample of blood or the like and then set in a microscope. Then, the slide on the stage of the microscope is stopped at a suitable location where particles are present, through automatic scanning. Next, still images of the particles are picked up, so that the classification of the particles in the sample, or the like, is performed by means of characteristic extraction and pattern recognition based on image processing techniques.
An example of the aforementioned automatizing apparatus using microscope slides is an apparatus for automatically reexamining slide samples, described in JP-A 50-68330. In the automatic reexamination apparatus, various kinds of blood corpuscles or the like on microscope slides are analyzed automatically and where the results of automatic analysis are inconclusive, samples are moved to a reexamination position where the samples are reexamined directly by a surveyor or the like.
In the aforementioned automatizing apparatus, however, a long time is required for smearing a microscope slide with a sample. Moreover, extra work is required for detecting particles while moving the stage of a microscope mechanically and for moving the particles to a suitable image pickup zone in the visual field of the microscope. Accordingly, the aforementioned automatizing apparatus requires a long period of time to analyze each sample and comprises complex mechanical construction.
On the other hand, there is a particle analyzing method using a flow sight meter in which particles to be examined are analyzed optically while the particles are suspended in a fluid sample and are moved in a flow chamber continuously without smearing a specific sample over a microscope slide (for example, a method of analyzing particles of a dilute fluid sample as described in JP-A 58-76740). The particle analyzing method using a flow sight meter serves to observe the intensity of fluorescence and the intensity of scattered light from respective particles in a fluid sample and has a processing capacity of 1000 per second.
There is also an analyzing apparatus in which: still images of particles contained in a fluid sample are picked up by means of a flash lamp while the fluid sample is poured into a wide image pickup zone through a specific-form flow path; and the particles are analyzed by using the images thus picked up. In the analyzing apparatus, the flash lamp serving as a pulse light source emits light periodically in synchronism with the operation of a charge coupled device (CCD) camera and images of sample particles are enlarged by a microscope, so that the enlarged images are projected onto the CCD camera. The light-emitting time of the pulse light source is short, so that still images can be picked up even though the fluid sample containing particles is poured continuously.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In general clinical examinations, analysis of a fluid sample is roughly separated into the following two processes.
The first process is a screening process which aims at discriminating samples suspected of being abnormal samples from a large number of samples obtained from general persons.
The second process is a disease defining process aimed at classifying in greater detail samples suspected of being abnormal samples defining diseases on the basis of characteristics of individual components or the like.
In a particle image analyzing apparatus in which only rough classification is carried out for the purpose of screening as the first process, a large number of samples can be processed. Samples suspected of being abnormal samples, however, require reexamination. Therefore, microscope slides smeared with samples to be reexamined must be formed so as to be observed under a microscope. Thus, where reexamination is necessary, a long period of time is required to define the disease and a greater quantity of sample is required to perform both examinations. It is undesirable that a person whose disease must be defined rapidly to start medical treatment be subjected to two examinations.
On the other hand, in a particle image analyzing apparatus in which only fine classification is carried out for the purpose of defining diseases as the second process, all samples must be subjected to extraction and identification of a large number of characteristic parameters, so that such a large number of samples cannot be processed in a short time.
To this end, the following method may be considered. Characteristic parameters for each sample are extracted and stored in advance. Then, rough classification, equivalent to the first process, is executed to determine whether the sample should be subjected to fine classification. Then, the sample requiring fine classification is finely classified automatically by using the stored characteristic parameters. By this method, analysis high in classifying accuracy and high in efficiency can be performed.
Further, it is sometimes necessary to vary the criterion upon which the decision to perform fine classification is based. That is, for example in a hospital, the criterion for determination with respect to inpatients may differ from the criterion for determination with respect to outpatients. Further, the criterion for determination may vary between males and females. Further, there is a case where the criterion of determination is different between male and female persons. Further, in a special hospital or the like, the criterion for determination may vary for every hospital because the influence of medicines to be administered must be considered.
An object of the present invention is to provide a particle image analyzing apparatus of high classifying accuracy and high efficiency, in which the criterion for determining whether fine classification is required can be set for every facility, such as hospitals or the like.
To achieve the foregoing object, the present invention is configured as follows.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a particle image analyzing apparatus including an image picking-up unit for picking-up images of particles contained in a fluid sample, and an image analyzing unit for analyzing the images of the particles picked up by the image picking-up unit, the apparatus further including: a reference value input unit for inputting a reference value for determining whether the fluid sample is abnormal or normal; a reference value storage unit for storing the reference value given by the input unit so that the stored reference value can be changed by the input unit; a rough classification unit for discriminating the fluid sample whether it is abnormal or normal by classifying the images of the particles on the basis of the reference value stored in the storage unit; and a fine classification unit for defining the kind of abnormality by classifying the particle images of the fluid sample when the rough classification unit makes a decision that the fluid sample is abnormal.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a particle image analyzing apparatus including an image picking-up unit for picking-up images of particles contained in a fluid sample, and an image analyzing unit for analyzing the images of the particles picked up by the image picking-up unit, the appa
Asai Hideki
Katahira Hatsue
Oowada Norio
Sano Kazuhiro
Hitachi , Ltd.
Mattingly Stanger & Malur, P.C.
Patel Jay
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