Image processing apparatus and method for evaluating objects in an image

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017337697-A1
Application number	US-201715669169-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 4, 2017
Priority date	Mar 29, 2010
Publication date	Nov 23, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a data processing apparatus and a data processing method capable of generating evaluation index data for performing accurate and detailed evaluation of cultured cardiomyocytes.
A motion detecting unit divides frame image data obtained by photographing the cultured cardiomyocytes for a predetermined time into blocks and obtains motion detection data in units of blocks per each frame period. A feature amount calculating unit calculates a feature amount for each block at the same position in a frame image using the motion detection data. A classification processing unit classifies each of the blocks into any one of a plurality of classification categories using the calculated feature amount. On the basis of the classification result, evaluation index data made of individual classification result data that represent correspondences between the blocks and the classification categories is generated.

First claim

1 . An image processing apparatus comprising:
a motion detecting unit which detects a motion of an object of evaluation using an image of the object of evaluation; an index data generating unit which, by using a motion vector that represents the motion of the object of evaluation detected by the motion detecting unit, generates index data that represents a feature of the motion of the object of evaluation and is used as an index for evaluating the object of evaluation; and an evaluation value calculating unit which evaluates the index data generated by the index data generating unit and calculates an evaluation value.

2 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the index data generating unit generates index data regarding a magnitude of an amplitude of the motion of the object of evaluation, and index data regarding a frequency per unit time of a peak of the motion of the object of evaluation, and the evaluation value calculating unit calculates an evaluation value that evaluates the magnitude of the amplitude of the motion of the object of evaluation using the index data regarding the magnitude of the amplitude of the motion of the object of evaluation generated by the index data generating unit, and further calculates an evaluation value that evaluates the frequency per unit time of the peak of the motion of the object of evaluation using the index data regarding the frequency per unit time of the peak of the motion of the object of evaluation generated by the index data generating unit.

3 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the index data regarding the magnitude of the amplitude of the motion of the object of evaluation is an average value of products of a normalized amplitude and a normalized dispersion of the amplitudes over an entire image of the object of evaluation.

4 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the index data regarding the magnitude of the amplitude of the motion of the object of evaluation is a proportion of a region in which a value of a product of a normalized amplitude and a normalized dispersion of the amplitudes is higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold with respect to an entire image of the object of evaluation.

5 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the index data regarding the frequency per unit time of the peak of the motion of the object of evaluation is an average value of products of a normalized number of the peaks per unit time and a normalized dispersion of the numbers of the peaks per unit time over an entire screen.

6 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the index data regarding the frequency per unit time of the peak of the motion of the object of evaluation is a proportion of a region in which a value of a product of a normalized number of the peaks per unit time and a normalized dispersion of the numbers of the peaks per unit time is higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold with respect to an entire image of the object of evaluation.

7 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the index data generating unit further generates index data regarding a classification result of classifying each of partial regions of the image of the object of evaluation on the basis of the feature amount of the motion of the object of evaluation, and the evaluation value calculating unit further calculates an evaluation value that evaluates the classification result of the feature amount of the motion of the object of evaluation using the index data regarding the classification result generated by the index data generating unit.

8 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the index data generating unit calculates a motion amount of the object of evaluation detected by the motion detecting unit, and the evaluation value calculating unit generates an image of a change in the motion amount calculated by the index data generating unit with respect to time so as to be displayed.

9 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 8 ,
wherein the index data generating unit generates index data that represents a change due to administration of a drug to a cardiomyocyte in a peak of a waveform representing a relaxation of the cardiomyocyte which is the object of evaluation, in the change in the calculated motion amount with respect to time, and the evaluation value calculating unit evaluates the index data calculated by the index data generating unit and calculates an evaluation value.

10 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an imaging unit which images the object of evaluation and obtains an image of the object of evaluation,
wherein the motion detecting unit detects the motion of the object of evaluation using the image of the object of evaluation obtained by the imaging unit.

11 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the motion detecting unit detects the motion of the object of evaluation between frame images in an evaluation duration with a predetermined length in the image of the object of evaluation which is a moving image.

12 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 11 ,
wherein the motion detecting unit repeats detection of the motion of the object of evaluation in the evaluation duration a predetermined number of times.

13 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the evaluation value calculating unit evaluates each of a plurality of kinds of the index data generated by the index data generating unit to calculate the evaluation value, and integrates the calculated evaluation values, thereby calculating an evaluation value that evaluates the object of evaluation.

14 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the object of evaluation is a cell that moves spontaneously.

15 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the object of evaluation is a cultured cell generated by culturing a cell collected from a living body.

16 . An image processing method comprising:
detecting a motion of an object of evaluation using an image of the object of evaluation by a motion detecting unit of an image processing apparatus; by using a motion vector that represents the detected motion of the object of evaluation, generating index data that represents a feature of the motion of the object of evaluation and is used as an index for evaluating the object of evaluation by an index data generating unit of the image processing apparatus; and evaluating the generated index data and calculating an evaluation value by an evaluation value calculating unit of the image processing apparatus.

17 . A program which causes a computer to function as:
a motion detecting unit which detects a motion of an object of evaluation using an image of the object of evaluation; an index data generating unit which, by using a motion vector that represents the detected motion of the object of evaluation, generates index data that represents a feature of the motion of the object of evaluation and is used as an index for evaluating the object of evaluation; and an evaluation value calculating unit which evaluates the generated index data and calculates an evaluation value.

Assignees

• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Kunihiro Takeshi
• Uchida Masashi
• Matsui Eriko
• Hayakawa Tomohiro

Classifications

• G06V10/50

  by performing operations within image blocks; by using histograms, e.g. histogram of oriented gradients [HoG]; by summing image-intensity values; Projection analysis · CPC title

• G06T2207/30048

  Heart; Cardiac · CPC title

• G06T2207/10056

  Microscopic image · CPC title

• G06T7/0016

  involving temporal comparison · CPC title

• G06T7/223 Primary

  using block-matching · CPC title