System and method for quality assurance in pathology

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9349036-B2
Application number	US-201514841548-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 31, 2015
Priority date	May 4, 2007
Publication date	May 24, 2016
Grant date	May 24, 2016

Abstract

Enhancing color(s) in a digital slide image to increase contrast. In an embodiment, a digital slide image of a tissue sample is acquired. The tissue sample is counterstained, such that the digital slide image comprises an image of a first stain and a second stain. The contrast between the first stain and the second stain is increased to enhance the digital slide image.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising using at least one hardware processor to:
acquire a digital slide image of a tissue sample that is counterstained with at least a first stain and a second stain, such that the digital slide image comprises an image of the first stain and the second stain; and
increase a contrast between the first stain and the second stain within the digital slide image to enhance the digital slide image.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein increasing the contrast between the first stain and the second stain comprises changing a color of at least one of the first stain and the second stain.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using the at least one hardware processor to, prior to increasing the contrast, automatically determine whether or not a quality of the digital slide image is sufficient for diagnosis.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining whether or not a quality of the digital slide image is sufficient for diagnosis comprises comparing one or more characteristics of the digital slide image to a predetermined set of one or more criteria.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein increasing the contrast is performed automatically when the determination is that the quality of the digital slide image is sufficient.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using the at least one hardware processor to input the enhanced digital slide image into a clinical decision support system that guides a user through an interpretation of the tissue sample to arrive at a diagnosis.

7. A system comprising:
at least one hardware processor; and
one or more software modules that, when executed by the at least one hardware processor,
acquire a digital slide image of a tissue sample that is counterstained with at least a first stain and a second stain, such that the digital slide image comprises an image of the first stain and the second stain, and
increase a contrast between the first stain and the second stain within the digital slide image to enhance the digital slide image.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein increasing the contrast between the first stain and the second stain comprises changing a color of at least one of the first stain and the second stain.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more software modules, prior to increasing the contrast, automatically determine whether or not a quality of the digital slide image is sufficient for diagnosis.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein determining whether or not a quality of the digital slide image is sufficient for diagnosis comprises comparing one or more characteristics of the digital slide image to a predetermined set of one or more criteria.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more software modules increase the contrast automatically when the determination is that the quality of the digital slide image is sufficient.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more software modules input the enhanced digital slide image into a clinical decision support system that guides a user through an interpretation of the tissue sample to arrive at a diagnosis.

13. The system of claim 7 , wherein the at least one hardware processor is comprised in a slide scanner.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more software modules are stored in a memory of the slide scanner.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
acquire a digital slide image of a tissue sample that is counterstained with at least a first stain and a second stain, such that the digital slide image comprises an image of the first stain and the second stain; and
increase a contrast between the first stain and the second stain within the digital slide image to enhance the digital slide image.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein increasing the contrast between the first stain and the second stain comprises changing a color of at least one of the first stain and the second stain.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to, prior to increasing the contrast, automatically determine whether or not a quality of the digital slide image is sufficient for diagnosis.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein determining whether or not a quality of the digital slide image is sufficient for diagnosis comprises comparing one or more characteristics of the digital slide image to a predetermined set of one or more criteria.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to increase the contrast automatically when the determination is that the quality of the digital slide image is sufficient.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to input the enhanced digital slide image into a clinical decision support system that guides a user through an interpretation of the tissue sample to arrive at a diagnosis.

Assignees

• Leica Biosystems Imaging Inc

Inventors

• Soenksen Dirk G
• Zirker-Smith Kathy

Classifications

• G06V10/987

  with the intervention of an operator · CPC title

• G02B21/365

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

• G06T2207/10024

  Color image · CPC title

• G06T2207/10056

  Microscopic image · CPC title

• G06K9/00127 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic