Digital microscope and method of sensing an image of a tissue sample

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10139613-B2
Application number	US-201113212955-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 18, 2011
Priority date	Aug 20, 2010
Publication date	Nov 27, 2018
Grant date	Nov 27, 2018

Abstract

A method including sensing an image without magnification of a portion of a tissue sample; displaying the sensed image on a display; and performing at least one of the following: refreshing a sensed image at a predetermined rate, storing the sensed image, modifying the sensor to display pixel ratio, and sensing a magnified view of an area of the portion of the tissue sample. A digital microscope comprising: at least one image sensor; a first optic configured to project an image with a magnification of one or less; a second optic disposed between the at least one sensor and the stage, the second optic configured to project an image with a magnification greater than one; and a computer operable to direct an image capture by the at least one image sensor of a portion of a microslide on the stage projected through the first optic or the second optic.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
sensing an image at a first magnification of one or less of a portion of a tissue sample on a substrate with a sensor;
without storing the sensed image,
displaying at least a portion of the sensed image on a display at a sensor to display pixel ratio greater than one to one;
in response to user input, performing each of the following:
electronically modifying the sensor to display pixel ratio at which the sensed image is displayed on the display at the first magnification, and
when the sensor to display ratio reaches a threshold at the first magnification, automatically sensing a view of an area of the portion of the tissue sample at a second magnification in response to an attempt to modify the sensor to display pixel ratio beyond the threshold ratio; and

performing at least one of the following:
refreshing the at least a portion of the sensed image that is displayed at a computer controlled rate, and
storing the at least a portion of the sensed image that is displayed.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying the sensed image of a portion of a tissue sample comprises assembling a plurality of segments of the portion and displaying the assembled plurality of segments.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a segment of the plurality of segments overlaps an adjacent segment and assembling the adjacent segments comprises aligning common image content in the adjacent segments.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the displaying the sensed image comprises displaying an entire cross-sectional area of the image.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the sensed image comprises storing in response to user input.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein electronically modifying a sensor to display pixel ratio comprises transitioning from a ratio greater than one to one to a ratio of one to one.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the view of the area of the portion of the tissue sensed at the second magnification corresponds to an area selected by the user input.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprises sensing an image of a label on the substrate and displaying the image on the display.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein sensing an image of a tissue sample on a substrate comprises sensing a bright field image and sensing an image of a label comprises sensing an image using reflectance.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying on the display at least one of the modified sensor to display pixel ratio view and the view at the second magnification.

11. The method of claim 10 , concurrently displaying on the display each of the sensed image on a display at a sensor to display pixel ratio greater than one to one and the at least one of the modified sensor to display pixel ratio view and the view at the second magnification.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a plurality of substrates wherein each of the plurality of substrates comprises a tissue sample and, prior to sensing an image, the method further comprises designating at least one of the plurality of substrates for sensing.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a plurality of substrates wherein each of the plurality of substrates comprises a tissue sample and, displaying on the display at least one image of one of the plurality of substrates and at least one image of another of the plurality of substrates.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising simultaneously displaying on the display at least one image of at least one area of the portion of the tissue sample.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying comprises displaying a first image and a second image on the display and refreshing the sensed image comprises refreshing only one of the first image and the second image.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the other of the first image and the second image is an image retrieved from a computer memory storage.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing comprises storing at least a portion of the sensed image in a data structure and the method further comprises:
sensing an image of the sample at the second magnification that is a magnification greater than one; and
storing the sensed image at the second magnification in the data structure.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing comprises storing the at least a portion of the sensed image in a data structure, wherein the storing comprises storing a hierarchy of images based on a sensor to display pixel ratio.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising locating an area in an image based on a pixel size of the sensed image, a magnification and the number of pixels.

20. The method of claim 19 , associating the area of the sensed image with an annotation provided by the user and storing a location of the area and the annotation in a data structure.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tissue sample on a substrate is a sample on a slide, the slide having a label and positioned on a stage performing comprises storing at least a portion of the sensed image, the method further comprising in response to a removal from and subsequent return of the slide to the stage, orienting a position of the tissue sample relative to its position prior to removal.

22. An apparatus comprising:
a digital microscope comprising:
at least one image sensor;
a stage configured to support at least one microscope slide;
a first optical imaging sub-system disposed between the at least one sensor and the stage, the first optical imaging sub-system configured to project an image with a magnification of one or less; and
a second optical imaging sub-system disposed between the at least one sensor and the stage, the second optical imaging sub-system configured to project an image with a magnification greater than one;

an illumination sub-system comprising at least one light source; and
a computer coupled to the digital microscope and operable to direct an image capture by the at least one image sensor of a portion of a microscope slide on the stage, a display coupled to the computer and operable to display an image transmitted from the computer, wherein the computer comprises machine-readable instructions that when executed, the computer is operable to direct an image capture through the second optical imaging sub-system in response to an attempt by a user to modify a sensor to display pixel ratio of an image beyond a threshold through the first optical imaging sub-system.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that when executed perform a method comprising:
sensing an image at a first magnification of one or less of a portion of a tissue sample on a substrate with a sensor;
without storing the sensed image,
displaying at least a portion of the sensed image on a display at a sensor to display pixel ratio greater than one to one;
in response to user input, performing each of the following:
electronically modifying the sensor to display pixel ratio of the sensed image at the first magnification, and
when the sensor to display ratio reaches a threshold at the first magnification, automatically sensing a view of an area of the portion of the tissue sample at a second magnification in response to an attempt to modify the sensor to display pixel ratio beyond the threshold ratio; and

performing at least one of the following:
refreshing the at least a portion sensed image that is displayed at a computer controlled rate,

Assignees

• Hing Paul
• Romer Christian
• Hensler Sven
• Sakura Finetek Usa Inc

Inventors

• Hing Paul
• Romer Christian
• Hensler Sven

Classifications

• G02B21/361

  Optical details, e.g. image relay to the camera or image sensor (G02B21/364 takes precedence; illumination details G02B21/06 and subgroups) · CPC title

• G02B21/367 Primary

  providing an output produced by processing a plurality of individual source images, e.g. image tiling, montage, composite images, depth sectioning, image comparison · CPC title

• G02B21/365 Primary

  Control or image processing arrangements for digital or video microscopes (G02B21/361, G02B21/362 take precedence) · CPC title