CN113758856A

CN113758856A - Method for relocating cells on smear and cell image analysis device

Info

Publication number: CN113758856A
Application number: CN202110583850.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 姜斌
Original assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-06-04
Filing date: 2021-05-27
Publication date: 2021-12-07

Abstract

The invention provides a method for relocating cells on a smear, a device and a storage medium thereof, wherein the method comprises the following steps: acquiring identity information of the smear, first position information of a reference point of the smear and second position information of each cell to be shot in the smear relative to the first position information of the reference point; shooting a first cell image of each cell to be shot under a first shooting condition, and storing the first cell image and second position information in association with identity information; and when a shooting again instruction is received, controlling the image acquisition device and the smear to move relatively according to the identity information, the second position information and the current third position information of the reference point, so that at least one shot cell is positioned in the shooting visual field of the image acquisition device. The method, the device and the storage medium thereof reduce the time for reanalyzing the smear, save a large amount of medical resources and greatly improve the accuracy of positioning the specified cells.

Description

Method for relocating cells on smear and cell image analysis device

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of medical treatment, in particular to a method for relocating cells on a smear.

Background

When the cell morphology is analyzed, the cell image can be displayed on a display in a classified manner according to the characteristics of the cells, so that a user can adjust the classified result according to clinical experience and relevant information of a patient and give a corresponding clinical conclusion.

However, there are some reasons that the images of the cells are not clear, or that the details of the middle part are blurred (such as the texture of the cell nucleus), and it may be necessary to shoot or review the cells again. In addition, it may be necessary to re-examine or observe again for a particular patient sample or a particular blood cell, or a particular cell distribution characteristic. While the individual cells are very small relative to the entire blood film on the smear, it is very difficult to find the designated cells without special treatment. Therefore, in the current situation, the specified cells need to be photographed or observed again, which is usually ignored or analyzed again, so that limited medical resources are consumed and the specified cells cannot be found accurately.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method for relocating cells on a smear, a device for analyzing a cell image, and a computer-readable storage medium, so as to solve at least one of the above problems.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of relocating cells on a smear comprising:

acquiring the identity information of the smear;

acquiring first position information of a reference point of the smear and second position information of each cell to be shot in the smear relative to the first position information of the reference point;

controlling the image acquisition device and the smear to move relatively according to the second position information of each cell to be shot, enabling each cell to be shot to be sequentially located in a shooting visual field of the image acquisition device, shooting a first cell image of each cell to be shot under a first shooting condition, and storing the first cell image and the second position information in a manner of being associated with the identity information;

when an instruction to shoot a cell image related to at least one shot cell again is received, acquiring current third position information of the reference point;

and controlling the image acquisition device and the smear to move relatively according to the identity information, the second position information and the third position information, so that the at least one photographed cell is positioned in a photographing field of the image acquisition device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cell image analysis apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

the image acquisition device is used for shooting the cells in the smear;

the smear moving device is used for moving the smear relative to the image acquisition device so that the image acquisition device can shoot a cell image of a specific area of the smear;

a control device connected with the image acquisition device and the smear moving device and configured to:

acquiring the identity information of the smear;

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of retaking cells on a smear, the method comprising:

loading the smear onto a smear moving device;

a smear moving device moves the smear relative to an image acquisition device so that the image acquisition device captures a cell image of a specific area of the smear under a first capturing condition;

when an instruction to photograph designated cells again is received, the smear moving means moves the smear relative to the image acquisition means so that the image acquisition means photographs the designated cells under a second photographing condition different from the first photographing condition, the designated cells including at least one cell photographed under the first photographing condition;

unloading the smear from the smear movement device.

That is, the smear is always kept on the smear moving device from the start of photographing in the first photographing condition until the end of photographing in the second photographing condition, that is, the same cells are photographed with different conditions without leaving the smear moving device. According to the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the shooting under the first shooting condition and the shooting under the second shooting condition can be switched in real time when the current smear is shot, so that a clear image of a specified cell can be obtained in time, and a user does not need to reload the smear into the cell image analysis device again.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cell image analysis system including:

the image acquisition device is used for shooting the cells in the smear;

controlling loading of a smear onto the smear movement device;

controlling a smear moving device to move the smear relative to an image acquiring device so that the image acquiring device acquires a cell image of a specific area of the smear under a first photographing condition;

when an instruction to shoot specified cells again is received, controlling a smear moving device to move the smear relative to an image acquisition device so that the image acquisition device shoots the specified cells under a second shooting condition different from the first shooting condition, wherein the specified cells comprise at least one cell shot under the first shooting condition;

controlling unloading of the smear from the smear movement device.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable storage medium comprising a program executable by a processor to implement the method of the first aspect.

According to the method for relocating the cells on the smear, the cell image analysis device and the computer readable storage medium, the relative position information between the cells to be shot and the reference point in the smear is recorded and stored, when the specified cells need to be shot again or checked, the specified cells can be directly located according to the relative position information related to the specified cells, the time for reanalyzing the smear is reduced, a large amount of medical resources are saved, and the accuracy for locating the specified cells is greatly improved.

Drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in more detail embodiments of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention and not to limit the invention. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally represent like parts or steps.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic structural views of a cell image analysis apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a control device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a method of relocating cells on a smear in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5a and 5b are examples of a reference coordinate system and a reference point according to embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 6a is an example of a reference coordinate system and a reference point according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6b is an example of a second cell image according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6c is an example of a cell to be captured in a second cell image according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an example of a first cell image according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, exemplary embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the described embodiments are merely a subset of embodiments of the invention and not all embodiments of the invention, with the understanding that the invention is not limited to the example embodiments described herein. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments of the invention described herein without inventive step, shall fall within the scope of protection of the invention.

Fig. 1 and 2 are schematic structural views showing a cell image analysis apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 1, the cell image analyzing apparatus 100 includes at least an image acquiring apparatus 110, a smear moving apparatus 120, and a control apparatus 130, the image acquiring apparatus 110 including a camera 112 and a lens group 111 and being used to photograph cells in a sample smeared on a smear, the smear moving apparatus 120 being used to move the smear relative to the image acquiring apparatus 110 so that the image acquiring apparatus 110 photographs a cell image of a specific area of the smear, and the control apparatus 130 being used to analyze the cell image of the smear.

As shown in fig. 2, the lens group 111 may include a first objective lens 111a, a second objective lens 111b, and an eyepiece lens 111 c. The first objective lens 111a may be a 10-fold objective lens, for example, and the second objective lens 111b may be a 100-fold objective lens, for example. The lens group 111 may further include a third objective lens 111d, which may be, for example, a 40-fold objective lens.

The cytological image analysis apparatus 100 further includes a recognition device 140, a slide gripping device 150, and a smear recovery device 160. The recognition device 140 is used for recognizing the identity information of the smear, the slide clamping device 150 is used for clamping the smear from the recognition device 140 onto the smear moving device 120 for detection, and the smear recycling device 160 is used for placing the detected smear.

The cytological image analysis apparatus 100 further comprises a slide basket loading device 170 for loading the slide basket 20 loaded with the smear 21, and the slide gripper 150 is further configured to grip the slide in the slide basket 20 loaded on the slide basket loading device 170 to the identification device 140 for identification information identification. The slide basket loading device 170 may be connected to the first transfer rail so as to transfer smears (such as smears prepared by the smear preparation device) from other apparatuses to the cytological image analysis apparatus 100; the slide basket loading device 170 may also be disconnected from the external track, in which case the user may place the smear to be monitored directly into the slide basket 20.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic structural diagram of the control device 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 3, the control device 130 includes at least: processing component 131, RAM132, ROM133, communication interface 134, memory 136, and I/O interface 135, where processing component 131, RAM132, ROM133, communication interface 134, memory 136, and I/O interface 135 may communicate over bus 137.

The processing component 131 may be a CPU, GPU or other chip with computing capabilities. In practical applications, the Processing component 131 may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or a combination thereof, and may use at least one of a Circuit, a single or multiple Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a Digital Signal Processing Device (DSPD), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a controller, a microcontroller, and a microprocessor, so that the Processing component 131 can perform a part of or all of the steps of the method for repositioning cells on a smear or any combination of the steps therein in various embodiments of the present Application.

The memory 136 stores therein various computer programs executed by the processor component 131, such as an operating system and an application program, and data necessary for executing the computer programs. In addition, data stored locally during the sample testing process, if desired, may be stored in the memory 136.

In some embodiments, Memory 136 may be a volatile Memory (volatile Memory), such as Random Access Memory (RAM); or a non-volatile Memory (non-volatile Memory), such as a Read Only Memory (ROM), a flash Memory (flash Memory), a Hard Disk (Hard Disk Drive, HDD) or a Solid-State Drive (SSD); or a combination of the above types of memories and provides instructions and data to the processing components.

The I/O interface 135 is constituted by a serial interface such as USB, IEEE1394, or RS-232C, a parallel interface such as SCSI, IDE, or IEEE1284, and an analog signal interface composed of a D/a converter and an a/D converter. The I/O interface 135 is connected to an input device including a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, or other control buttons, and a user can directly input data to the control apparatus 130 using the input device. In addition, a display having a display function, such as: a liquid crystal screen, a touch screen, an LED display screen, etc., and the control device 130 may output the processed data as image display data to a display for displaying, for example: cell images, analytical data, instrument operating parameters, etc.

Communication interface 134 is an interface that may be any communication protocol. The communication interface 134 communicates with the outside through a network. Control device 130 may communicate data with any device connected via the network via communication interface 134 in a communication protocol. It should be understood that the sample analysis system according to the embodiment of the present invention is not limited by a communication interface, and whether the interface is an interface of a currently known communication protocol or an interface of a communication protocol developed in the future may be used in the cell image analysis device according to the embodiment of the present invention to implement a function of communicating with the outside through a network, which is not limited herein.

When the cell image analysis device runs, the cell image analysis device can provide a corresponding operation interface for an operator to operate, and the operation interface can comprise corresponding controls, such as a mark selection box or a menu bar, so that the operator can input an operation instruction on the operation interface according to the actual use condition, and the cell on the sample smear can be analyzed through the cell image analysis device.

Embodiments of the present invention further provide a computer-readable storage medium, where a plurality of program instructions are stored, and after being invoked and executed by a processor, the computer-readable storage medium may perform some or all of the steps of the method for relocating cells on a smear, or any combination of the steps.

It should be understood that the components included in the cell image analysis device shown in fig. 1 and 2 are merely illustrative, and that more or fewer components may be included. The invention is not limited in this regard.

The cell image analysis device can analyze cells on smears of various samples (such as peripheral blood, bone marrow, body fluid and the like), automatically identifies a monolayer cell area by applying an intelligent image processing algorithm based on a microscopic optical and digital shooting module, searches and shoots cells (such as white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets and the like) in the monolayer cell area, and then identifies the types and characteristics of the shot cells through the intelligent identification algorithm by the shot cell image. However, in some cases, such as where the cell image capture is not clear or for cells (or cell distributions) in a particular sample, the user may wish to re-capture certain cells or cell distributions for review, confirmation or analysis.

In view of the above considerations, a method of relocating cells on a smear is provided according to an embodiment of the present invention, and referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 shows a schematic flow chart of a method of relocating cells on a smear according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 4, the method 400 includes:

step S410, acquiring the identity information of the smear;

step S420, acquiring first position information of a reference point of the smear and second position information of each cell to be shot in the smear relative to the first position information of the reference point;

step S430, controlling the image acquisition device and the smear to move relatively according to the second position information of each cell to be shot, enabling each cell to be shot to be sequentially located in the shooting field of the image acquisition device, shooting a first cell image of each cell to be shot under a first shooting condition, and storing the first cell image and the second position information in a manner of being associated with the identity information;

step S440, when receiving an instruction of shooting the cell image related to at least one shot cell again, acquiring current third position information of the reference point;

step S450, controlling the image acquisition device and the smear to move relatively according to the identity information, the second position information and the third position information, so that the at least one photographed cell is located in the photographing field of the image acquisition device.

Wherein, before shooting each cell to be shot on the smear, a reference point and the position of each cell to be shot relative to the reference point are obtained, at the moment, the position information of each shot cell and the reference point is obtained, then each cell to be shot is shot in sequence, the cell images of each shot cell obtained by shooting are stored in association with the position information relative to the reference point and the identity information of the smear, which smear the cell corresponding to each shot cell image belongs to and the position relative to the reference point in the smear can be obtained, when an instruction of shooting the cell image related to at least one shot cell again is received, the cell to be shot or observed again can be directly positioned according to the current position of the reference point in the smear without analyzing the whole smear again, saves a large amount of medical resources and greatly improves the accuracy of the relocation of the specified cells.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in step S410, acquiring the identity information of the smear may include: and acquiring the identity information of the smear by identifying the electronic identification mark in the smear.

Alternatively, the electronic signature of the smear may include, and is not limited to: a barcode and/or a radio frequency identification tag of the smear.

Optionally, the smear's identity information may include, and is not limited to: the smear's number (ID), and/or the smear's source (e.g., from which department, and/or from which patient, etc.).

In particular, the detection or analysis of the sample in the smear may be based on a barcode or radio frequency identification tag on the smear to obtain information about the sample, such as patient information, smear handling information, and the like. In some embodiments, the sample-related information includes, and is not limited to: personal information of the patient, barcode information of the sample. The personal information of the patient may include, among other things, name, patient number, height, weight, etc.

In some embodiments, the smear's identity information may include the smear's number (ID). Further, the number (ID) of the smear can be associated with the patient information corresponding to the smear, after the cell image of the smear is taken, the second position information of the cell image of at least one taken cell, the number (ID) of the smear, and the first position information of at least one taken cell relative to the reference point can be stored in the relevant database of the patient corresponding to the smear, so that when the user needs to take or observe the specified cell in the patient's smear again, the identity information of the patient's smear and the position of each taken cell in the smear relative to the reference point of the smear can be obtained according to the patient's information, so that the user only needs to observe the cell image of the patient on the display interface, and when it is found that a certain cell or certain cells need to be re-taken, the re-shooting instruction is sent through the operation interface, the cell image analysis device can automatically acquire the number (ID) of the smear according to the information of the patient, the corresponding smear is loaded to the smear moving device by identifying the electronic identification mark of the smear, and a certain cell or certain cells which need to be shot or observed again are repositioned to be located in a shooting field of view, so that the specified cells are automatically, quickly and accurately located, medical resources are further saved, and the detection efficiency and accuracy are improved.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in step S420, the reference point of the smear may be a point at which the relative position to the cells to be photographed in the sample of the smear is not changed.

Optionally, the reference point is a feature mark located on the smear, or the reference point is located on a motion mechanism (e.g., smear moving device 120 in FIG. 1) that controls the motion of the smear, or the reference point is a specific cell in the smear.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, in step S420, a reference coordinate system may also be established. Wherein each cell to be photographed in the reference point and the smear has unique position information in the reference coordinate system. It should be appreciated that the reference coordinate system may be an orthogonal coordinate system, the directions of the two axes of which may be set as desired; the reference coordinate system may also be a virtual coordinate system, and the virtual coordinate system may be converted to an orthogonal coordinate system, where the type of the reference coordinate system is not limited herein.

Optionally, the establishing of the reference coordinate system may be independent of the selection of the reference point, or may be based on the reference point. In some embodiments, the origin of the reference coordinate system may be used as the reference point, and other specific points in the reference coordinate system except the origin may also be used as the reference point.

In some embodiments, see fig. 5a andfig. 5b, 5a and 5b show examples of reference coordinate systems and reference points according to embodiments of the invention. As shown in FIG. 5a, the reference coordinate system may be a specific location of the smear (e.g., the corner apex O of a smear sample)₁、O₂Or corner A, B, C, D), or a coordinate system with a particular mark on the slide (e.g., the center point of the area ABCD formed by corner A, B, C, D) as the origin; as shown in FIG. 5b, the reference coordinate system may also be the initial point 0 of the movement mechanism that controls the movement of the slide or objective lens₄As the origin, in the movement direction X of the movement mechanism₄Y₄Is a coordinate system of axes.

In some embodiments, the reference point is a feature marker located on the smear. For example, as shown in FIG. 5a, in one embodiment, the upper corner of the sample on the coating may be pointed at O₁As a reference point. Further, the reference point O may be set₁As origin of the reference coordinate system, in X₁Y₁A reference coordinate system is established for the axes. Alternatively, the upper corner vertex O may be set₁Is an origin, X₁Y₁A reference coordinate system is established for the axes and a feature marker on the smear (e.g., point B) is chosen as the reference point.

In yet another embodiment, the lower corner of the sample on the coating may be pointed at O₂As a reference point. Further, the reference point O may be set₂As origin of a reference coordinate system, X₂Y₂The axis being a reference point O₂A reference coordinate system as an origin. Alternatively, the lower corner apex O may be set₂Is an origin, X₂Y₂A reference coordinate system is established for the axes and a feature mark on the smear (e.g., point a) is chosen as the reference point.

In yet another embodiment, the smear may be loaded with the center point O of the sample area (i.e., the square area ABCD)₃As a reference point. Further, the reference point O may be set₃As origin of a reference coordinate system, X₃Y₃The axis being a reference point O₃A reference coordinate system as an origin. Alternatively, the center point O of the sample area (i.e., the square area ABCD) can be set₃As origin, X₃Y₃A reference coordinate system is established for the axes and a signature on the smear (e.g., point A, B, C or D) is selected as a reference point.

In some embodiments, the reference point is located on a motion mechanism that controls motion of the smear. For example, as shown in fig. 5b, when the position of the smear on the inspection platform is relatively accurate each time, that is, the difference between the positions of the smear on each time is small, a preset error range (which can be set as required, but is not limited herein) is satisfied, that is, the initial point 0 of the motion mechanism can be set₄(i.e. coordinate system X)₄Y₄Origin of) as a reference point.

In some embodiments, the reference point is a particular cell in the smear. For example, before each smear is taken, the relative position of the image capture device and the smear is initialized, and then the smear is captured, and the first cell taken at the beginning of the capture can be used as a reference point. It should be understood that other specific cells may be selected as a reference point as desired, and are not limited herein.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, in step S420, a relative coordinate system may be adopted instead of establishing a uniform reference coordinate system. At this time, alternatively, the second position information may be relative position information between the respective cells to be photographed and the first position information of the reference point. For example, the relative position information may be represented by a vector.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, in step S420, the cell distribution characteristics may be used to perform the relocation without establishing the coordinate system. For example, a cell image including a plurality of cells to be photographed is photographed based on a first magnification, and distribution characteristics of the plurality of cells to be photographed are obtained; the distribution characteristic comprises the position of each cell to be shot in the distribution characteristic or the relative position among the cells to be shot; and storing the distribution characteristic of each cell to be shot and the identity information of the smear, and positioning the cells to be shot according to the distribution characteristic when receiving an instruction for repositioning at least one appointed cell in the cells to be shot, so as to position at least one appointed cell needing repositioning.

According to the embodiment of the invention, in the step S420, acquiring the first position information of the reference point of the smear and acquiring the second position information of the first position information of each cell to be shot in the smear relative to the reference point comprises the following steps: the first position information and the second position information are acquired based on a first magnification.

Alternatively, the first magnification may be a low magnification.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2, the first magnification may be a magnification of the first objective lens 111a (e.g., a 10-fold objective lens), i.e., in the case of the first objective lens 111a, the first position information and the second position information are acquired. For the acquisition of the position information, detailed information such as cell morphology of each cell to be shot is not needed, but the position information is acquired by adopting the low-magnification objective lens in order to determine the position of each cell to be shot relative to the reference point, so that the cells to be shot can be acquired in one visual field as much as possible, the speed of acquiring the position information can be increased, errors caused by moving the objective lens or the smear for many times can be reduced, and the accuracy of the position information is improved.

It should be understood that the low magnification described in acquiring the positional information herein is only required to be a lower magnification with respect to the magnification of the subsequent captured cell, that is, to be a lower magnification when the positional information is acquired than when the cell image is captured, and is not intended to limit the magnification (i.e., the first magnification) at the time of acquiring the positional information to a certain magnification.

In some embodiments, the first position information of the reference point of the smear may be position information of the reference point in a reference coordinate system, such as coordinates of the reference point.

In some embodiments, the second position information of the reference point of the smear may be position information of the respective cells to be photographed in a reference coordinate system, such as coordinates of the cells to be photographed.

In some embodiments, the first position information includes position information of the reference point in a reference coordinate system, and the obtaining of the second position information of the first position information of each cell to be photographed in the smear relative to the reference point includes:

sequentially shooting a second cell image containing a plurality of cells to be shot based on the first magnification, wherein the cells to be shot contained in the second cell image shot each time are at least partially different;

acquiring fifth position information of each cell to be shot in a corresponding second cell image relative to an image origin of the second cell image;

and converting the fifth position information into second position information under the reference coordinate system.

The order of sequentially shooting the second cell images may be set as required, and the second position information of each cell to be shot may be obtained from the shot second cell images according to the order, and the specific order is not limited.

In some embodiments, converting the fifth location information into second location information in the reference coordinate system includes:

acquiring a transformation relation between an image coordinate system in the second cell image and the reference coordinate system;

and obtaining the second position information based on the transformation relation and the fifth position information.

In some embodiments, referring to fig. 6a, fig. 6a shows an example of a reference coordinate system and a reference point according to an embodiment of the invention. Upper corner vertex O of sample to be coated₁As a reference point and origin of a reference coordinate system, in X₁Y₁A reference coordinate system is established for an axis, taking the example of shooting second cell images from left to right sequentially, second position information of first position information of each cell to be shot in the smear relative to the reference point is obtained, and the description is given. Specifically, the regions Z1, Z2, and Z3 were photographed based on the first magnification M1, respectively, to obtain 3 second cell images I1, I2, and I3. Referring to FIG. 6b, FIG. 6b shows an embodiment in accordance with the inventionFor example, as shown in FIG. 6b, the origin of the second cell image I1 is the vertex E of the upper left corner of the image I1, whose coordinates in the reference coordinate system are E (X)₀，Y₀). Referring to FIG. 6c, FIG. 6c shows an example of a cell to be captured in a second cell image according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6c, with the vertex E of the upper left corner of the second cell image I1 as the origin and X as the origin_E、Y_EAn image coordinate system of the second cell image I1 is established for the axis, wherein the image coordinate system may refer to a coordinate system established with a certain point in the second cell image as an origin. X of the image coordinate system in FIG. 6c_E、Y_EThe direction of the axis is opposite to the reference coordinate system, and then the coordinates (0,0) of the vertex E in the image coordinate system, and the coordinates (X) of the first magnification M1 and the vertex E in the reference coordinate system₀，Y₀) The transformation relation between the image coordinate system of the second cell image I1 and the reference coordinate system can be obtained as follows:

(X_n’，Y_n’)＝[(X₀，Y₀)-(x_n，y_n)]/M1,

wherein (X)_n’，Y_n') second position information of the cell to be photographed in the reference coordinate system, (x)_n，y_n) M1 is the first magnification, (X) for acquiring the second cell image I1, which is the coordinates of the cell to be photographed in the image coordinate system of the second cell image I1₀，Y₀) Is the coordinate of the origin of the image coordinate system in the reference coordinate system. Similarly, the cell to be photographed in the second cell image I2, I3 may also obtain the coordinate of each cell to be photographed in the reference coordinate system through coordinate transformation, and then, the second position information of the first position information of each cell to be photographed relative to the reference point may be obtained according to the transformation relation between the image coordinate system of the second cell image and the reference coordinate system.

In some embodiments, the transformation relationship between the image coordinate system and the reference coordinate system in the second cell image may include at least one of: translation transformation, scale transformation, shear transformation, or rotation transformation. It should be understood that coordinate transformation between different coordinate systems is a conventional means in the art, and the description of the coordinate transformation process is omitted here.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, in step S430, controlling the image acquiring apparatus and the smear to move relatively according to the second position information of each cell to be photographed, so that each cell to be photographed is sequentially located in the photographing field of the image acquiring apparatus and a first cell image of each cell to be photographed is photographed under a first photographing condition, including: capturing the first cell image based on a second magnification, the first magnification being less than the second magnification.

Alternatively, the second magnification may be a high magnification.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2, the first magnification may be a magnification of a first objective lens 111a (e.g., a 10-fold objective lens), and the second magnification may be a magnification of a second objective lens 111b (e.g., a 100-fold objective lens), that is, the first objective lens 111a is used to acquire position information of each cell to be photographed, and the second objective lens 111b is used to photograph a cell image of each cell to be photographed. Since the cell image is a data base for analyzing the cell morphology, detailed information such as the cell morphology of each cell to be photographed is required, and the image photographing is performed by using the high-magnification objective lens, which is advantageous for photographing a clear cell image of each cell to be photographed.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2, the first magnification may be a magnification of the first objective lens 111a (e.g., a 10-fold objective lens), and the second magnification may also be a third objective lens 111d (e.g., a 40-fold objective lens). That is, the first objective lens 111a is used to obtain the position information of each cell to be photographed, and the third objective lens 111d is used to photograph the cell.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2, the first magnification may also be the magnification of the third objective 111d (e.g., a 40-fold objective lens), and the second magnification may be the magnification of the second objective 111b (e.g., a 100-fold objective lens). That is, the third objective lens 111d is used to obtain the position information of each cell to be photographed, and the second objective lens 111b is used to photograph the cell.

Specifically, after the objective lens with the first magnification is used for obtaining second position information of first position information of each cell to be shot relative to the reference point, the control device controls the lens group to be switched to the objective lens with the second magnification to shoot a cell image of each cell to be shot, and after the objective lens is switched, the control device controls the smear moving device to move the smear or the objective lens according to the second position information of each cell to be shot, so that each cell to be shot is sequentially located in the visual field of the image acquisition device, and the first cell image corresponding to each second position information can be obtained.

As shown in fig. 7, fig. 7 shows an example of a first cell image according to an embodiment of the present invention. According to the embodiment of the present invention, in step S430, the method may further include: and displaying the shot first cell image to a user. The first cell image displayed to the user may or may not display the corresponding second location information, which is not limited herein.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, in step S440, when an instruction to capture again a cell image related to at least one captured cell is received, the current third position information of the reference point is acquired, specifically:

the user sends an instruction for shooting the cell image related to the at least one shot cell again through the operation interface;

when the control device receives the instruction, the identification device identifies a smear corresponding to at least one cell image related to the shot cells according to the identity information of the smear and loads the smear to the detection platform;

and acquiring current third position information of the reference point of the smear on the detection platform.

In some embodiments, the third location information may be the same as or different from the first location information when the reference point is located on a feature marker on the smear or the reference point is a particular cell in the smear.

In some embodiments, the third position information is the same as the first position information when the reference point is located on a motion mechanism that controls motion of the smear.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in step S450, controlling the image acquiring apparatus and the smear to move relatively to make the at least one photographed cell located in the photographing field of view of the image acquiring apparatus may include:

controlling the image acquisition device to move above the at least one captured cell or controlling the at least one captured cell in the smear to move below the image acquisition device.

Here, since the position of the photographed cell with respect to the reference point is not changed, when the current position of the reference point (i.e., the third position information) is the same as the position of the reference point (i.e., the first position information) at the time of the previous photographing, the current position of the photographed cell is not changed and remains as the second position information.

In some embodiments, after the first position information of the reference point and the second position information of each cell to be photographed are acquired and stored, when an instruction to photograph a cell image related to at least one photographed cell again is received, the current third position information of the reference point is acquired, and when the third position information is determined to be the same as the stored first position information, it is indicated that the current position information of the photographed cell is the stored second position information.

When the current position (i.e., the third position information) of the reference point is different from the position (i.e., the first position information) of the reference point in the previous shooting, the current position of the shot cell may be obtained by combining the stored first position information and the stored second position information according to the current third position information of the reference point, that is, the fourth position information; and then, according to the fourth position information, the cell to be photographed again is moved to the photographing field of view for observation or photographing again.

It is understood that when the third position information of the photographed cell is the same as the first position information, the fourth position information thereof is the same as the second position information.

Optionally, controlling the image acquiring apparatus and the smear to move relatively according to the identity information, the second position information and the third position information, so that the at least one photographed cell is located in a photographing field of the image acquiring apparatus, may further include:

acquiring current fourth position information of the at least one shot cell according to the identity information, the second position information and the third position information;

and controlling the image acquisition device and the smear to move relatively according to the fourth position information, so that the at least one photographed cell is positioned in a photographing field of the image acquisition device.

In some embodiments, obtaining current fourth location information of the at least one captured cell according to the identity information, the second location information, and the third location information includes:

acquiring a corresponding smear according to the identity information, and loading the smear on a detection platform;

and obtaining current fourth position information of the at least one shot cell according to the current third position information of the reference point and the second position information.

Optionally, the controlling the image acquisition device and the smear to move relatively according to the fourth position information to locate the at least one photographed cell in a photographing field of the image acquisition device includes:

controlling the image acquisition device to move above the at least one photographed cell or controlling the at least one photographed cell in the smear to move below the image acquisition device based on the fourth position information.

In some embodiments, since the relative position of the at least one photographed cell with respect to the reference point is not changed, the control device may obtain the current position of the reference point in the smear through the low power objective lens, where the reference point is located in the field of view of the low power objective lens (e.g., the center of the field of view of the objective lens), and obtain the relative displacement (which may include a distance and may also include a direction and a distance) between the reference point and the reference point according to the previously stored second position information and the first position information, and the control device controls the smear moving device or the objective lens to move the relative displacement, so that the photographed cell may be located in the field of view of the objective lens.

In some embodiments, when the user does not need to shoot again but only needs to observe the at least one shot cell, according to embodiments of the present invention, the control means may further switch the cell analysis means to a virtual microscope mode in which the image acquisition means can be manually controlled to observe the at least one shot cell.

In some embodiments, in the virtual microscope mode, a user may select an objective lens for viewing with different parameters, and the parameters may include at least one of magnification, numerical aperture, brightness, or field of view.

In some embodiments, the user may also observe the cell image by adjusting the height of the detection platform or the height of the objective lens.

When the user needs to shoot at least one shot cell again, according to an embodiment of the present invention, referring to fig. 4, the method 400 further includes:

step S460, after the at least one captured cell is located in the capturing field of view of the image capturing device, controlling the image capturing device to capture a second cell image of the at least one captured cell again.

In some embodiments, the second cell image is captured with a different effect than the first cell image.

Optionally, the controlling the image acquiring device to capture a second cell image of the at least one captured cell again may include:

controlling the image acquiring means to again capture a second cell image of the at least one captured cell under a second capturing condition different from the first capturing condition.

In some embodiments, the second photographing condition is different from the first photographing condition and includes at least one of: different magnifications, different viewing ranges, different brightnesses, different numerical apertures, different resolutions, different exposure intensities, and different shot numbers. For example, a higher resolution or higher pixel depth (e.g., 10bits, 12bits, 14bits, 16bits) may be selected for imaging a given cell again, resulting in a sharper cell image of the given cell.

Optionally, the controlling the image acquiring device to capture a second cell image of the at least one captured cell again may further include:

and shooting a plurality of second cell images of the at least one shot cell, and carrying out image processing on the plurality of second cell images to obtain a final cell image, wherein the image processing comprises image fusion or image enhancement.

After more images of the designated cells are obtained for image fusion or image enhancement, cell images with higher contrast, clearness and fineness of the designated cells can be obtained.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the method 400 further comprises: controlling the image acquisition device to acquire a third cell image of cells surrounding the at least one captured cell.

When the user observes the first cell image of the photographed cell, finds that some cells around the cell need to be analyzed, but the cell is not photographed before, the cell can be automatically positioned in the smear based on the second position information of the cell image relative to the reference point and the current position of the reference point, the objective lens or the smear can be controlled to move so that the cells around the photographed cell are positioned in the visual field of the image acquisition device, and then the surrounding cells can be observed or photographed by mechanical energy.

In summary, according to the method for relocating cells on a smear, the cell image analysis device and the computer readable storage medium of the embodiment of the invention, by recording and storing the relative position information between the cells to be photographed in the smear and the reference point, when the designated cells need to be re-photographed or inspected again, the designated cells can be directly located according to the relative position information associated with the designated cells, so that the time for re-analyzing the smear is reduced, a large amount of medical resources are saved, and the accuracy for locating the designated cells is greatly improved.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a method for re-shooting the cells on the smear, which comprises the following steps:

loading the smear onto a smear moving device;

unloading the smear from the smear movement device.

In some embodiments, the method may further comprise:

recording the position information of the cells shot by the image acquisition device in the shooting process under the first shooting condition;

the image acquisition means photographs the specified cell under a second photographing condition based on the recorded position information.

In some embodiments, when an instruction to photograph a specified cell again is received, photographing in the second photographing condition is started after photographing in the first photographing condition is ended.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a corresponding cell image analysis system, where the cell image analysis system includes:

the image acquisition device is used for shooting the cells in the smear;

controlling loading of a smear onto the smear movement device;

controlling unloading of the smear from the smear movement device.

Further, the control apparatus is further configured to: analyzing the cell image taken under the first photographing condition to generate the instruction to again photograph the specified cell.

In an alternative embodiment, the cell image analysis system further comprises a main control module configured to acquire the cell image captured by the image acquisition device;

the master control module is communicatively coupled to the control device and is further configured to:

the cell image taken under the first photographing condition is acquired and analyzed to generate the instruction to again photograph the specified cell.

And sending the instruction to the control device.

For other embodiments and advantages of the method for retaking a cell on a smear and the cell image analysis system provided by the embodiment of the present invention, reference may be made to the embodiments and advantages of the method 400 described above, and further description is omitted here.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical functional division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another device, or some features may be omitted, or not executed.

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. It is understood, however, that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the invention and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. However, the method of the present invention should not be construed to reflect the intent: that the invention as claimed requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and all of the processes or elements of any method or apparatus so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where such features are mutually exclusive. Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that while some embodiments described herein include some features included in other embodiments, rather than other features, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention and form different embodiments. For example, in the claims, any of the claimed embodiments may be used in any combination.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of elements or steps not listed in a claim. The word "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The invention may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In the unit claims enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The usage of the words first, second and third, etcetera do not indicate any ordering. These words may be interpreted as names.

The above description is only for the specific embodiment of the present invention or the description thereof, and the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and the changes or substitutions should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of relocating cells on a smear, the method comprising:

acquiring the identity information of the smear;

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said controlling the relative movement of the image acquisition device and the smear to position the at least one captured cell in the capture field of view of the image acquisition device based on the identity information, the second location information, and the third location information comprises:

determining current fourth position information of the at least one photographed cell according to the identity information, the second position information and the third position information;

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

and controlling the image acquisition device to capture a second cell image of the at least one captured cell again after the at least one captured cell is located in the capture field of view of the image acquisition device.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said controlling the image capturing device to capture a second cell image of the at least one captured cell again comprises:

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the second photographing condition is different from the first photographing condition and includes at least one of: different magnifications, different viewing ranges, different brightnesses, different numerical apertures, different resolutions, different exposure intensities, and different shot numbers.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein said controlling the image capturing device to capture a second cell image of the at least one captured cell again comprises:

7. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the first positional information and the second positional information are acquired based on a first magnification, and the first cell image is taken based on a second magnification, the first magnification being smaller than the second magnification.

8. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises: and controlling the image acquisition device to capture a third cell image of the cells surrounding the at least one captured cell.

9. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises: switching to a virtual microscope mode in which the image acquisition device can be manually controlled to observe the at least one photographed cell after the at least one photographed cell is located in a photographing field of view of the image acquisition device.

10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises: the reference point is a feature mark on the smear, or the reference point is on the motion mechanism controlling the motion of the smear, or the reference point is a specific cell in the smear.

11. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said controlling the relative movement of the image acquisition device and the smear to position the at least one captured cell in the capture field of view of the image acquisition device comprises:

12. A cellular image analysis apparatus, characterized in that the apparatus comprises:

the image acquisition device is used for shooting the cells in the smear;

acquiring the identity information of the smear;

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the control apparatus is further configured to:

14. The apparatus of claim 12 or 13, wherein the control apparatus is further configured to:

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the control apparatus is further configured to:

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the second photographing condition different from the first photographing condition includes at least one of: different magnifications, different viewing ranges, different brightnesses, different numerical apertures, different resolutions, different exposure intensities, and different shot numbers.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the control apparatus is further configured to:

18. The apparatus according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the first positional information and the second positional information are acquired based on a first magnification, and the first cell image is taken based on a second magnification, the first magnification being smaller than the second magnification.

19. The apparatus of claim 12 or 13, wherein the control apparatus is further configured to: and controlling the image acquisition device to capture a third cell image of the cells surrounding the at least one captured cell.

20. The apparatus of claim 12 or 13, wherein the control apparatus is further configured to: switching to a virtual microscope mode in which the image acquisition device can be manually controlled to observe the at least one photographed cell after the at least one photographed cell is located in a photographing field of view of the image acquisition device.

21. The device according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the reference point is a characteristic mark located on the smear or on a smear moving device controlling the smear motion or is a specific cell in the smear.

22. The apparatus of claim 12 or 13, wherein the control apparatus is further configured to:

23. A method of retaking cells on a smear, the method comprising:

loading the smear onto a smear moving device;

unloading the smear from the smear movement device.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

25. The method according to claim 23 or 24, characterized in that when an instruction to photograph a specified cell again is received, photographing in the second photographing condition is started after photographing in the first photographing condition is ended.

26. A cellular image analysis system, characterized in that the cellular image analysis system comprises:

the image acquisition device is used for shooting the cells in the smear;

controlling loading of a smear onto the smear movement device;

controlling unloading of the smear from the smear movement device.

27. The cellular image analysis system according to claim 26, wherein the control device is further configured to:

analyzing the cell image taken under the first photographing condition to generate the instruction to again photograph the specified cell.

28. A cellular image analysis system according to claim 26, further comprising a main control module configured to acquire the cellular image captured by the image acquisition device;

And sending the instruction to the control device.