Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080292159 | Second Opinion Network - Systems and methods are provided to facilitate consultations between a referral source (e.g., labs, pathologists and patients) and a consultant (e.g., pathologist, radiologist, or other digital image analyst). Links between the various referral sources and consultants are established through a scanning center via a data communication network such as the Internet. The referral source sends a slide to the scanning center where the corresponding digital slide is posted for review and analysis by the consultant. Upon completion of the analysis and report, a digital slide conference is conducted through the scanning center that provides a venue for direct communication regarding the consultation. The scanning center may also facilitate payment from the referral source to the consultant. | 11-27-2008 |
20080304722 | System and Method for Assessing Image Interpretability in Anatomic Pathology - A portion of imagery data is obtained from a digital slide and a protocol of image analysis/diagnostic tasks is performed on the portion of imagery data by a pathologist or an image analysis module. The result of each task (e.g., success or no success) is recorded and a score is determined for the portion of the imagery data. Multiple portions of imagery data from the digital slide are analyzed and scored and the various scores from the multiple portions of imagery data are calculated to determine an overall score for the digital slide. Regions of the digital slide can be scored separately. Multiple rounds of scoring (by different pathologists and/or different image analysis algorithms) may be employed to increase the accuracy of the score for a digital slide or region thereof. | 12-11-2008 |
20090028414 | Data Management in a Linear-Array-Based Microscope Slide Scanner - Systems and methods for processing, storing, and viewing extremely large imagery data rapidly produced by a linear-array-based microscope slide scanner are provided. The system receives, processes, and stores imagery data produced by the linear scanner as a series of overlapping image stripes and combines the data into a seamless and contiguous baseline image. The baseline image is logically mapped into a plurality of regions that are individually addressed to facilitate viewing and manipulation of the baseline image. The system enables dynamic imagery data compression while scanning and capturing new image stripes that eliminates the overhead associated with storing uncompressed image stripes. The system also creates intermediate level images, thereby organizing the baseline image into a variable level pyramid structure referred to as a virtual slide. The system facilitates the use of virtual slides in applications such as telemedicine, telepathology, microscopy education, and analysis of high value specimens like tissue arrays. | 01-29-2009 |
20090087051 | Image Quality for Diagnostic Resolution Digital Slide Images - An improved diagnostic resolution of digital slide images is obtained by scanning a first digital slide image at diagnostic resolution that is then deconvolved into separate images with one stain per image. The single stain images are then enhanced with image adjustments and/or processed with image analysis algorithms. The resulting single image data sets from the image analysis algorithms can then be stored. Additionally, the resulting enhanced single images can be recombined into a second digital slide image at diagnostic resolution that is also enhanced. | 04-02-2009 |
20090141126 | Fully Automatic Rapid Microscope Slide Scanner - Apparatus for and method of fully automatic rapid scanning and digitizing of an entire microscope sample, or a substantially large portion of a microscope sample, using a linear array detector synchronized with a positioning stage that is part of a computer controlled microscope slide scanner. The invention provides a method for composing the image strips obtained from successive scans of the sample into a single contiguous digital image. The invention also provides a method for statically displaying sub-regions of this large digital image at different magnifications, together with a reduced magnification macro-image of the entire sample. The invention further provides a method for dynamically displaying, with or without operator interaction, portions of the contiguous digital image. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, all elements of the scanner are part of a single-enclosure that has a primary connection to the Internet or to a local intranet. In this embodiment, the preferred sample type is a microscope slide and the illumination and imaging optics are consistent with transmission mode optics optimized for diffraction-limited digital imaging. | 06-04-2009 |
20090169118 | Systems and Methods for Image Pattern Recognition - Systems and methods for image pattern recognition comprise digital image capture and encoding using vector quantization (“VQ”) of the image. A vocabulary of vectors is built by segmenting images into kernels and creating vectors corresponding to each kernel. Images are encoded by creating a vector index file having indices that point to the vectors stored in the vocabulary. The vector index file can be used to reconstruct an image by looking up vectors stored in the vocabulary. Pattern recognition of candidate regions of images can be accomplished by correlating image vectors to a pre-trained vocabulary of vector sets comprising vectors that correlate with particular image characteristics. In virtual microscopy, the systems and methods are suitable for rare-event finding, such as detection of micrometastasis clusters, tissue identification, such as locating regions of analysis for immunohistochemical assays, and rapid screening of tissue samples, such as histology sections arranged as tissue microarrays (“TMAs”). | 07-02-2009 |
20090303321 | System and Computer Readable Medium for Pre-focus of Digital Slides - Methods and apparatus are provided for computing focus information prior to scanning digital microscope slides with a line scan camera. The methods include a point-focus procedure that works by moving the slide to the desired measurement location, moving the objective lens through a predefined set of height values, acquiring imagery data at each height, and determining the height of maximum contrast. The methods also include a ribbon-focus procedure whereby imagery data are acquired continuously, while the slide and objective lens are in motion. Both methods may be applied with either a static or a dynamic implementation. | 12-10-2009 |
20100027856 | Method for Pre-focus of Digital Slides - Methods and apparatus are provided for computing focus information prior to scanning digital microscope slides with a line scan camera. The methods include a point-focus procedure that works by moving the slide to the desired measurement location, moving the objective lens through a predefined set of height values, acquiring imagery data at each height, and determining the height of maximum contrast. The methods also include a ribbon-focus procedure whereby imagery data are acquired continuously, while the slide and objective lens are in motion. Both methods may be applied with either a static or a dynamic implementation. | 02-04-2010 |
20100141753 | Optimizing Virtual Slide Image Quality - Systems and methods for assessing and optimizing virtual microscope slide image quality are provided. In order to determine whether a virtual slide image has any out of focus areas and is therefore a candidate for manual inspection, the various focus points used to scan the virtual slide image are used to calculate a best fit surface for the virtual slide image. The distance of each focus point from the best fit surface is then calculated and the largest distance is compared to a predetermined value. If the largest distance from a focus point to the best fit surface is larger than the predetermined value, then the virtual slide image is designated as needing a manual inspection and possible re-scan. | 06-10-2010 |
20110037847 | Fully Automatic Rapid Microscope Slide Scanner - Apparatus for and method of fully automatic rapid scanning and digitizing of an entire microscope sample, or a substantially large portion of a microscope sample, using a linear array detector synchronized with a positioning stage that is part of a computer controlled microscope slide scanner. The invention provides a method for composing the image strips obtained from successive scans of the sample into a single contiguous digital image. The invention also provides a method for statically displaying sub-regions of this large digital image at different magnifications, together with a reduced magnification macro-image of the entire sample. The invention further provides a method for dynamically displaying, with or without operator interaction, portions of the contiguous digital image. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, all elements of the scanner are part of a single-enclosure that has a primary connection to the Internet or to a local intranet. In this embodiment, the preferred sample type is a microscope slide and the illumination and imaging optics are consistent with transmission mode optics optimized for diffraction-limited digital imaging. | 02-17-2011 |
20110044518 | Data Management in a Linear-Array-Based Microscope Slide Scanner - Systems and methods for processing, storing, and viewing extremely large imagery data rapidly produced by a linear-array-based microscope slide scanner are provided. The system receives, processes, and stores imagery data produced by the linear scanner as a series of overlapping image stripes and combines the data into a seamless and contiguous baseline image. The baseline image is logically mapped into a plurality of regions that are individually addressed to facilitate viewing and manipulation of the baseline image. The system enables dynamic imagery data compression while scanning and capturing new image stripes that eliminates the overhead associated with storing uncompressed image stripes. The system also creates intermediate level images, thereby organizing the baseline image into a variable level pyramid structure referred to as a virtual slide. The system facilitates the use of virtual slides in applications such as telemedicine, telepathology, microscopy education, and analysis of high value specimens like tissue arrays. | 02-24-2011 |
20110141263 | Achieving Focus in a Digital Pathology System - Methods and apparatus are provided for computing focus information prior to scanning digital microscope slide data with a line scan camera. The methods include a point-focus procedure that works by moving the slide to the desired measurement location, moving the objective lens through a predefined set of height values, acquiring imagery data at each height, and determining the height of maximum contrast. The methods also include a ribbon-focus procedure whereby imagery data are acquired continuously, while the slide and objective lens are in motion. Both methods may be applied with either a static or a dynamic implementation. | 06-16-2011 |
20110221882 | Data Management in a Linear-Array-Based Microscope Slide Scanner - Systems and methods for processing, storing, and viewing extremely large imagery data rapidly produced by a linear-array-based microscope slide scanner are provided. The system receives, processes, and stores imagery data produced by the linear scanner as a series of overlapping image stripes and combines the data into a seamless and contiguous baseline image. The baseline image is logically mapped into a plurality of regions that are individually addressed to facilitate viewing and manipulation of the baseline image. The system enables dynamic imagery data compression while scanning and capturing new image stripes that eliminates the overhead associated with storing uncompressed image stripes. The system also creates intermediate level images, thereby organizing the baseline image into a variable level pyramid structure referred to as a virtual slide. The system facilitates the use of virtual slides in applications such as telemedicine, telepathology, microscopy education, and analysis of high value specimens like tissue arrays. | 09-15-2011 |
20120075457 | Fully Automatic Rapid Microscope Slide Scanner - Apparatus for and method of fully automatic rapid scanning and digitizing of an entire microscope sample, or a substantially large portion of a microscope sample, using a linear array detector synchronized with a positioning stage that is part of a computer controlled microscope slide scanner. The invention provides a method for composing the image strips obtained from successive scans of the sample into a single contiguous digital image. | 03-29-2012 |
20120113242 | Data Management in a Linear-Array-Based Microscope Slide Scanner - Systems and methods for processing, storing, and viewing extremely large imagery data rapidly produced by a linear-array-based microscope slide scanner are provided. The system receives, processes, and stores imagery data produced by the linear scanner as a series of overlapping image stripes and combines the data into a seamless and contiguous baseline image. The baseline image is logically mapped into a plurality of regions that are individually addressed to facilitate viewing and manipulation of the baseline image. The system enables dynamic imagery data compression while scanning and capturing new image stripes that eliminates the overhead associated with storing uncompressed image stripes. The system also creates intermediate level images, thereby organizing the baseline image into a variable level pyramid structure referred to as a virtual slide. The system facilitates the use of virtual slides in applications such as telemedicine, telepathology, microscopy education, and analysis of high value specimens like tissue arrays. | 05-10-2012 |
20120114204 | Optimizing Virtual Slide Image Quality - Systems and methods for assessing and optimizing virtual microscope slide image quality are provided. In order to determine whether any of multiple virtual slide images has an out of focus area and is therefore a candidate for manual inspection or rescanning, various focus points used to scan each virtual slide image are used to calculate a best fit surface for each virtual slide image. The best fit surface is then used to determine whether any of the various focus points are outliers. If it is determined that a virtual slide image is associated with outlying focus points, it is identified as a candidate for manual inspection or rescanning. | 05-10-2012 |
20120243753 | System and Method for Assessing Image Interpretability in Anatomic Pathology - A portion of imagery data is obtained from a digital slide and a protocol of image analysis/diagnostic tasks is performed on the portion of imagery data by a pathologist or an image analysis module. The result of each task (e.g., success or no success) is recorded and a score is determined for the portion of the imagery data. Multiple portions of imagery data from the digital slide are analyzed and scored and the various scores from the multiple portions of imagery data are calculated to determine an overall score for the digital slide. Regions of the digital slide can be scored separately. Multiple rounds of scoring (by different pathologists and/or different image analysis algorithms) may be employed to increase the accuracy of the score for a digital slide or region thereof. | 09-27-2012 |
20130162802 | Fully Automatic Rapid Microscope Slide Scanner - Apparatus for and method of fully automatic rapid scanning and digitizing of an entire microscope sample, or a substantially large portion of a microscope sample, using a linear array detector synchronized with a positioning stage that is part of a computer controlled microscope slide scanner. The invention provides a method for composing the image strips obtained from successive scans of the sample into a single contiguous digital image. The invention also provides a method for statically displaying sub-regions of this large digital image at different magnifications, together with a reduced magnification macro-image of the entire sample. The invention further provides a method for dynamically displaying, with or without operator interaction, portions of the contiguous digital image. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, all elements of the scanner are part of a single-enclosure that has a primary connection to the Internet or to a local intranet. In this embodiment, the preferred sample type is a microscope slide and the illumination and imaging optics are consistent with transmission mode optics optimized for diffraction-limited digital imaging. | 06-27-2013 |
20130271594 | ACHIEVING FOCUS IN A DIGITAL PATHOLOGY SYSTEM - Methods and apparatus are provided for computing focus information during scanning digital microscope slide data with a line scan camera. The systems and methods include a dynamically interleaved procedure that works by moving the specimen relative to the objective lens while the height of the objective lens is adjusted relative to the stage. Imagery data is acquired at a plurality of objective lens heights the image data from the objective lens height having maximum contrast is stored and combined into a composite digital image of at least a portion of the specimen. | 10-17-2013 |
20140046686 | Second Opinion Network - Systems and methods are provided to facilitate consultations between a referral source (e.g., labs, pathologists and patients) and a consultant (e.g., pathologist, radiologist, or other digital image analyst). Links between the various referral sources and consultants are established through a scanning center via a data communication network such as the Internet. The referral source sends a slide to the scanning center where the corresponding digital slide is posted for review and analysis by the consultant. Upon completion of the analysis and report, a digital slide conference is conducted through the scanning center that provides a venue for direct communication regarding the consultation. The scanning center may also facilitate payment from the referral source to the consultant. | 02-13-2014 |
20140056494 | System and Method For Quality Assurance in Pathology - Systems and methods for improving quality assurance in pathology using automated quality assessment and digital image enhancements on digital slides prior to analysis by the pathologist are provided. A digital pathology system (slide scanning instrument and software) creates, assesses and improves the quality of a digital slide. The improved digital slide image has a higher image quality that results in increased efficiency and accuracy in the analysis and diagnosis of such digital slides when they are reviewed on a monitor by a pathologist. These improved digital slides yield a more objective diagnosis than reading the corresponding glass slide under a microscope. | 02-27-2014 |
20140112560 | System and Method For Assessing Image Interpretability in Anatomic Pathology - A portion of imagery data is obtained from a digital slide and a protocol of image analysis/diagnostic tasks is performed on the portion of imagery data by a pathologist or an image analysis module. The result of each task (e.g., success or no success) is recorded and a score is determined for the portion of the imagery data. Multiple portions of imagery data from the digital slide are analyzed and scored and the various scores from the multiple portions of imagery data are calculated to determine an overall score for the digital slide. Regions of the digital slide can be scored separately. Multiple rounds of scoring (by different pathologists and/or different image analysis algorithms) may be employed to increase the accuracy of the score for a digital slide or region thereof. | 04-24-2014 |
20140300724 | OPTIMIZING VIRTUAL SLIDE IMAGE QUALITY - Systems, methods, and media for assessing the quality of a microscope slide image. In an embodiment, a plurality of focus point values are acquired for a sample on a microscope slide. Each focus point value comprises x-y coordinates indicating a location on the sample and a z coordinate indicating a focus height for the location on the sample. A best-fit surface is calculated based on the focus point values, and it is determined whether or not outlying focus point values exist based on the best-fit surface and the z coordinate for one or more of the focus point values. A scanned image of the microscope slide may be displayed which comprises, for each outlying focus point value, an overlay that identifies the location on the sample of the outlying focus point value based on the x-y coordinates for the outlying focus point value. | 10-09-2014 |
20140313313 | FULLY AUTOMATIC RAPID MICROSCOPE SLIDE SCANNER - Microscope slide scanner. In an embodiment the microscope slide scanner comprises a single enclosure unit that includes at least one objective lens, at least one line scan camera, at least one communication port, and at least one processor. The line scan camera may be configured to capture image data of a sample as a plurality of image stripes via the objective lens. The communication port provides communication over a network. The processor may align the plurality of image stripes into a contiguous image of at least a portion of the sample, and executes a web server that provides an operator interface over the network to one or more remote devices. | 10-23-2014 |
20140313314 | Data Management in a Linear-Array-Based Microscope Slide Scanner - Systems and methods for capturing image data using a line scan camera. In an embodiment, a line scan camera captures image data of a sample as a plurality of image stripes. A processor may coarsely align two or more of the plurality of image stripes according to a synchronization process while the line scan camera is capturing at least one of the plurality of image stripes. Subsequently, the processor may also finely align the two or more image stripes using pattern matching. | 10-23-2014 |
20140321725 | System and Method For Quality Assurance in Pathology - Systems and methods for analyzing digital slide images. In an embodiment, a digital slide image is acquired from a specimen on a slide. Then, until it is determined that a quality of the digital slide image is sufficient, the quality of the digital slide image is determined and the digital slide image is reacquired. Once it is determined that the quality of the digital slide image is sufficient, the digital slide image and a measure of the quality of the digital slide image is provided to one or more recipients. | 10-30-2014 |