Calibration of microscopy systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10746980-B2
Application number	US-201514934412-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 6, 2015
Priority date	Aug 26, 2014
Publication date	Aug 18, 2020
Grant date	Aug 18, 2020

Abstract

Approaches are disclosed for calibrating a plurality of imaging devices, such as microscopes. In certain implementations, a calibration plate is employed that includes a variety of calibration features. The calibration features comprise a geometric calibration, an illumination calibration, and an optical calibration. Imaging devices calibrated in accordance with the present approaches may be used to generate images having consistent attributes, such as brightness, regardless of which imaging device is employed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for inter-microscope calibration comprising:
loading a calibration plate onto a microscope stage such that the calibration plate is positioned in the focal plane of at least one objective lens of a microscope, the microscope having a camera mounted at the image plane of the microscope;
when the respective calibration plate is loaded, executing a calibration routine that generates a set of calibration data for the microscope, the calibration data comprising;
a geometric calibration;
an illumination calibration;
an optical calibration;
storing the calibration data on a memory accessible by the microscope; where the method is performed on multiple microscopes such that the multiple microscopes can be used interchangeably utilizing the stored calibration data;
where the illumination calibration comprises; one or more field flattening coefficients providing a model fit for non-uniformity of illumination; and an intensity adjusted scale factor providing a model fit for optical power at one or more combinations of illumination wave length and objective magnification;
where the intensity adjusted scale factors are derived based on a respective photon count per second.

2. The method of claim 1 where the geometric calibration comprises;
one or more camera rotation coefficients providing a model fit for rotation of the camera relative to the calibration plate; and
one or more stage transformation factors providing a model fit for at least one or more offsets, scales, and angles for the x-y-z axis of the stage relative to the calibration plate.

3. The method of claim 1 , where the optical calibration comprises one or more de-distortion coefficients.

4. The method of claim 3 where the de-distortion coefficients provide a model fit for optical distortion and magnification for at least one microscope objective.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising subtracting the effect of blank glass.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
transforming an image received by the microscope using the calibration data; and
creating a scaled image based on the calibration data.

7. The method of claim 1 ; where the method further comprises:
referencing the calibration data of the geometric, optical, and illumination calibrations of each microscope of the plurality of microscopes and referencing it to a master calibration standard, whereby after inter-microscope calibration of each microscope of the plurality of microscopes, images captured between the multiple microscopes of the plurality of microscopes are close in position to permit successful registration of images from multiple rounds of calibration across the microscope of the plurality of microscopes.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising overlaying two or more scaled images of the biological sample to create a composite image where the root mean square error of the alignment of the scaled images is less than or equal than three pixels relative to a morphological marker on the acquired images.

9. The method of claim 8 where the root means square error of the alignment is equal to or less than one pixel.

10. The method of claim 8 where the scaled images are used in a multiplexing workflow for detecting at least one of RNA, DNA, or protein on the surface of the biological sample.

11. The method of claim 1 where the calibration plate comprises grid features for stage alignment and geometric calibration.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein executing the calibration routine comprises executing an automated calibration routine on a processing component in communication with the microscope.

13. A method of acquiring images for image registration on different microscopes, comprising:
receiving an imaging protocol specifying one or more image acquisition parameters for imaging a sample provided on a stage of a calibrated microscope, wherein the image acquisition parameters comprise;
a geometric calibration;
an illumination calibration; and
an optical calibration; and
acquiring one or more images of the sample using the specified image acquisition parameters; and
storing the calibration data on a memory accessible by the microscope; where the method is performed on multiple microscopes such that the multiple microscopes can be used interchangeably utilizing the stored calibration data;
where the illumination calibration comprises; one or more field flattening coefficients providing a model fit for non-uniformity of illumination; and an intensity adjusted scale factor providing a model fit for optical power at one or more combinations of illumination wave length and objective magnification;
where the intensity adjusted scale factors are derived based on a respective photon count per second.

14. The method of claim 13 where the geometric calibration comprises:
one or more camera rotation coefficients providing a model fit for rotation of the camera relative to the calibration plate; and
one or more stage transformation factors providing a model fit for offsets, scales, and angles for the x-y-z axis of the stage relative to the calibration plate.

15. The method of claim 14 where the stage transformation comprises a stage modeler to allow for at least one of positioning and moving the sample on the stage.

16. The method of claim 13 , where the optical calibration comprises one or more de-distortion coefficients.

17. The method of claim 16 where the de-distortion coefficients provide a model fit for optical distortion and magnification for at least one microscope objective.

18. The method of claim 13 where the sample is a biological sample.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising overlaying two or more scaled images of the biological sample to create a composite image where the root mean square error of the alignment of the scaled images is less than or equal than three pixels relative to a morphological marker on the acquired images.

20. The method of claim 19 where the root means square error of the alignment is equal to or less than one pixel.

21. The method of claim 13 where the acquired images are obtained in a multiplexing workflow detecting at least one of RNA, DNA, or protein on the surface of the biological sample.

22. The method of claim 13 wherein executing the calibration routine comprises executing an automated or semi-automated calibration routine on a processing component in communication with the microscope.

23. A method for inter-microscope calibration comprising:
loading a calibration plate onto a microscope stage of a microscope, such that the calibration plate is positioned in the focal plane of at least one objective lens of a microscope, the microscope having a camera mounted at the image plane of the microscope;
when the respective calibration plate is loaded, executing a calibration routine that generates a set of calibration data for the microscope, the calibration data comprising;
a geometric calibration comprising;
one or more camera rotation coefficients providing a model fit for rotation of the camera relative to the calibration plate; and
one or more stage transformation factors providing a model fit for offsets, scales, and angles for the x-y-z axis of the stage relative to the calibration plate;
an illumination calibration comprising;
one or more field flatting coefficients providing a model fit for non-uniformity of illumination;
an intensity adjusted scale factor providing a model fit for optical power

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Kenny Kevin Bernard
• Corwin Alex David
• Shoudy David Andrew
• Surrette Christine Lynne

Classifications

• H04N23/71

  Circuitry for evaluating the brightness variation · CPC title

• H04N25/615

  involving a transfer function modelling the optical system, e.g. optical transfer function [OTF], phase transfer function [PhTF] or modulation transfer function [MTF] · CPC title

• G01N21/6458

  Fluorescence microscopy (fluorescence microscopes per se G02B21/0076 and G02B21/16) · CPC title

• G01J1/0228

  Control of working procedures; Failure detection; Spectral bandwidth calculation · CPC title

• G01N21/274

  Calibration, base line adjustment, drift correction · CPC title