JP2018157830A - Cell image acquisition apparatus, method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cell image acquisition apparatus, a method, and a program in which, in capturing an image of a cell colony, an attention region where high-magnification imaging is performed in a colony region is appropriately limited corresponding to a shape change of the colony region, and the quantity of data to be processed and stored is reduced.SOLUTION: A cell image acquisition apparatus comprises: a maturity information acquisition part 22 which acquires information related to the maturity of a cell to be cultured; a colony region specifying part 21 which acquires a cell image created by capturing the image of a cell at a first magnification and specifies a colony region of the cell in the cell image; an attention region determining part 23 which determines an attention region colony region of the cell based on information related to the maturity; and a high magnification image acquisition part 24 which acquires a high-magnification captured image obtained by capturing the image of the attention region at a second magnification higher than the first magnification.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a cell image acquisition apparatus, method, and program for acquiring a high-magnification image obtained by imaging a region of interest in a cell colony at a high magnification.

  Conventionally, a method has been proposed in which stem cells such as ES cells and iPS cells, differentiation-induced cells, and the like are imaged with a microscope, and the culture state of the cells is determined by capturing the characteristics of the images.

  When determining the culture state of the cells based on the characteristics of the images obtained by imaging the cells in this way, first, the cells are imaged at a low magnification to obtain a low-magnification captured image, and then the low-magnification captured image. It is possible to recognize more detailed features of cells by identifying a region of interest that is particularly interesting in the image, capturing the region of interest at a high magnification, obtaining a high-magnification captured image, and observing it .

  For example, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 propose a method for imaging a fertilized embryo to be cultured at a high magnification. Further, Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4 propose to image a position in a container designated by a user at a designated magnification based on management data relating to culture.

International Publication No. 2010/128670 International Publication No. 2009/125547 JP 2011-239778 A JP 2011-229409 A

  Here, for example, when stem cells are cultured, the morphology of the stem cell colonies changes according to the culture period. Specifically, for example, in the initial stage of culture, undifferentiated cells are uniformly distributed in the colony region, but as the culture progresses, differentiation begins at the periphery of the colony region and differentiated cells are distributed. Become.

  That is, at the initial stage of culture, observation may be made by paying attention to the central part in the colony region, but when culture proceeds, it is necessary to pay attention to the peripheral part of the colony region in order to recognize the degree of differentiation. .

  In response to such changes in the shape of the stem cell colony, for example, when the entire range of the stem cell colony is imaged at a high magnification, it is necessary to perform high magnification imaging for each of a plurality of regions obtained by dividing the entire range of the stem cell colony. And the measurement time becomes very long. In addition, the amount of data of an image captured at a high magnification becomes enormous.

Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 have only been proposed to image individual fertilized embryos,
There is no proposal for imaging of cell colonies. Also, Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4 disclose only imaging a predetermined observation position in the container based on management data, and the imaging according to the change in the morphology of the cell colony as described above. Nothing has been proposed.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention can appropriately limit a region of interest for performing high-magnification imaging in a colony region according to a change in the shape of the colony region, and process and store the cell colony. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cell image acquisition apparatus, method, and program that can reduce the amount of data to be reduced.

  The cell image acquisition device of the present invention acquires a cell image obtained by imaging a cell at a first magnification, and a maturity information acquisition unit that acquires information related to the maturity of a cell to be cultured. A colony region specifying unit for specifying a colony region of cells, an attention region determining unit for determining a region of interest in the cell colony region based on information related to maturity, and a region of interest higher than the first magnification. And a high-magnification image acquisition unit that acquires a high-magnification captured image captured at a magnification of 2.

  In the cell image acquisition device of the present invention, the attention area determination unit can determine the attention areas at different positions depending on the stage of cell maturity.

  Further, the attention area determination unit can determine an area that is estimated to be highly likely to be differentiated by cell maturation as the attention area.

  In addition, when the cell maturity is in the initial stage, the attention area determination unit determines the center in the colony area as the attention area, and in the middle stage that is advanced from the initial stage, the colony area It is possible to determine the inner peripheral portion as a region of interest.

  In addition, when the attention area determination unit is in the late stage in which the maturity of the cells is advanced from the middle stage, the center part in the colony area can be determined as the attention area.

  In addition, when the maturity level is a preset expansion growth stage, the attention area determination unit can determine the area including the edge of the colony area as the attention area.

  Moreover, the information of the cell culture period can be acquired as information relating to maturity.

  In addition, the maturity level information acquisition unit can acquire information related to the maturity level by analyzing the image information of the colony region of the cells in the cell image.

  In addition, information relating to the shape or size of a colony region of cells can be acquired as information related to maturity.

  Further, the attention area determination unit can determine the attention area in the colony area of the cell based on the information related to the maturity and the culture condition of the cell.

  The cell image acquisition method of the present invention acquires information related to the maturity of a cell to be cultured, acquires a cell image obtained by imaging the cell at a first magnification, and specifies a cell colony region in the cell image And determining a region of interest in the colony region of the cell based on the information related to the maturity level, and acquiring a high-magnification captured image obtained by imaging the region of interest at a second magnification higher than the first magnification. Features.

  The cell image acquisition program of the present invention acquires a cell image obtained by imaging a cell at a first magnification, a maturity information acquisition unit that acquires information related to the maturity of a cell to be cultured, and the cell A colony region specifying unit that specifies a colony region of cells in the image; an attention region determining unit that determines a region of interest in the colony region of cells based on information related to maturity; It is made to function as a high-magnification image acquisition part which acquires a high-magnification picked-up image imaged with higher 2nd magnification.

  According to the cell image acquisition apparatus, method, and program of the present invention, information related to the maturity level of a cell to be cultured is acquired, and a region of interest in the colony area of the cell is determined based on the information related to the maturity level. Since the high-magnification captured image obtained by imaging the determined attention area at a high magnification is acquired, the attention area can be appropriately limited according to the form change of the colony area, and data to be processed and stored The amount of can be reduced.

The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the stem cell culture observation system using one Embodiment of the cell image acquisition apparatus of this invention. Diagram showing schematic configuration of phase contrast microscope The figure which shows an example of the form of the stem cell colony in the early stage of culture, the middle stage of culture, and the late stage of culture The figure which shows an example of the table which matched the culture condition and culture | cultivation period, and the position of the attention area The figure which shows an example of the attention area in the center part of a cell colony, and the attention area in a peripheral part Diagram showing an example of the area of interest during the expansion period The flowchart for demonstrating the effect | action of the stem cell culture observation system using one Embodiment of the cell image acquisition apparatus of this invention. Illustration for explaining the nucleus / cytoplasm ratio of undifferentiated cells and differentiated cells The figure which shows the modification of the cell culture observation system shown in FIG. The figure which shows an example of the table which matched the kind of cell, culture conditions, culture period, observation position, and the focus search initial position of autofocus

  Hereinafter, a cell culture observation system using an embodiment of a cell image acquisition apparatus and method and a program of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a cell culture observation system.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cell culture observation system includes a cell culture device 1, a cell image acquisition device 2, a phase contrast microscope 3, a display 4, and an input device 5.

  The cell culture device 1 is a device for culturing cells. Examples of cells to be cultured include pluripotent stem cells such as iPS cells, ES cells, and STAP cells, cells such as nerves, skin, and liver induced by differentiation from stem cells, and cancer cells. In the cell culture apparatus 1, a plurality of culture containers in which cells to be cultured are seeded in a medium are accommodated. The cell culture device 1 includes a stage 10, a transport unit 11, and a control unit 12.

The stage 10 is provided with a culture vessel to be photographed by the phase contrast microscope 3. In addition, the transport unit 11 selects a culture container to be imaged from a plurality of culture containers accommodated at a predetermined position in the cell culture apparatus 1, and transports the selected culture container to the stage 10. Further, the control unit 12 controls the entire cell culture apparatus 1, and in addition to the operations of the stage 10 and the transfer unit 11 described above, environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, and CO ₂ concentration in the cell culture apparatus 1 are controlled. It is something to control. The temperature, the configuration for adjusting the humidity and CO ₂ concentration can be a known configuration.

  The phase-contrast microscope 3 captures a phase image of cells in a culture vessel installed on the stage 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the phase-contrast microscope 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the phase-contrast microscope 3 has a white light source 31 that emits white light and a ring-shaped slit, and the white light emitted from the white light source 31 is incident to emit ring-shaped illumination light. And an objective lens that irradiates the cells in the culture vessel 15 installed on the stage 10 with the ring-shaped illumination light emitted from the slit plate 32. 33.

  A phase difference lens 34, an imaging lens 37, and an image sensor 38 are provided on the opposite side of the stage 10 from the white light source 31.

  The phase difference lens 34 includes an objective lens 35 and a phase plate 36. The phase plate 36 is obtained by forming a phase ring on a transparent plate that is transparent with respect to the wavelength of the ring-shaped illumination light. The size of the slit of the slit plate 32 described above is in a conjugate relationship with this phase ring.

  In the phase ring, a phase film that shifts the phase of incident light by ¼ wavelength and a neutral density filter that attenuates incident light are formed in a ring shape. The direct light incident on the phase difference lens 34 is collected by the objective lens 35 and passes through the phase ring, so that the phase is shifted by ¼ wavelength and the brightness is weakened. On the other hand, most of the diffracted light diffracted by the cells in the culture vessel 15 passes through the transparent plate of the phase plate, and its phase and brightness do not change.

  The phase difference lens 34 is moved in the direction of the arrow A shown in FIG. 2 by a drive mechanism (not shown), and the focus position is changed and the focus control is performed by moving the phase difference lens 34 in this way. The drive mechanism moves the phase difference lens 34 based on the focus control signal output from the imaging control unit 26 of the cell image acquisition device 2.

  Further, the phase contrast microscope 3 of the present embodiment is configured such that a plurality of phase difference lenses 34 having different magnifications can be exchanged. The phase difference lens 34 may be replaced automatically according to an instruction input from the user, or may be replaced manually by the user.

  In the present embodiment, low-magnification imaging for macro observation and high-magnification imaging for detailed observation are performed. In low-magnification imaging, a phase difference lens 34 of 1 to 4 times is used. In high magnification imaging, a 10 to 20 times phase difference lens 34 is used. However, the low magnification imaging and the high magnification imaging only need to have relatively different magnifications, and are not limited to these magnifications.

  The imaging lens 37 receives direct light and diffracted light that have passed through the phase difference lens 34 and forms an image of these lights on the image sensor 38. The imaging element 38 captures a phase image of a cell by photoelectrically converting an image formed by the imaging lens 37. As the image sensor 38, a charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensor, a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor, or the like is used.

  In the present embodiment, the phase-contrast microscope 3 is used as the imaging device. However, a microscope capable of changing other optical magnifications may be used. For example, a differential interference microscope may be used. Good.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the cell image acquisition device 2 includes a low-magnification image acquisition unit 20, a colony region identification unit 21, a maturity information acquisition unit 22, an attention region determination unit 23, a high-magnification image acquisition unit 24, And a control unit 25. The control unit 25 includes an imaging control unit 26 and a display control unit 27.

  The cell image acquisition apparatus 2 is obtained by installing an embodiment of the cell image acquisition program of the present invention on a computer.

  The cell image acquisition device 2 includes a central processing unit, a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, and the like, and an embodiment of a cell image acquisition program is installed on the hard disk. Then, by executing this program by the central processing unit, as shown in FIG. 1, a low-magnification image acquisition unit 20, a colony region specifying unit 21, a maturity information acquisition unit 22, a region of interest determination unit 23, a high magnification The image acquisition unit 24, the imaging control unit 26, and the display control unit 27 operate.

  The low-magnification image acquisition unit 20 acquires a cell image captured by the phase-contrast microscope 3 by the low-magnification imaging described above. The low-magnification captured image acquired by the low-magnification image acquisition unit 20 may be one image obtained by imaging one cell colony, or a plurality of image groups obtained by dividing one cell colony into a plurality of rectangular divided regions. Good. A plurality of cell colonies may be included in one image.

  The low-magnification image acquisition unit 20 stores identification information for identifying cell colonies and low-magnification captured images in association with each other. For example, when one cell colony is captured with one low-magnification captured image, the identification information of the cell colony and the low-magnification captured image are stored in a one-to-one correspondence. When one cell colony is captured with low-magnification captured images of a plurality of divided regions, the identification information of the cell colonies and the low-magnification captured image groups of the plurality of divided regions are stored in association with each other. Further, when a plurality of cell colonies are captured with one low-magnification captured image, the identification information of each cell colony and one low-magnification captured image are stored in association with each other.

  Thus, by storing and managing the identification information of the cell colony and the low-magnification captured image in association with each other, for example, when the user inputs the identification information of the cell colony from the input device 5, the identification information is associated with the identification information. The low-magnification captured image can be immediately read out and displayed.

  The colony region specifying unit 21 specifies the position of the cell colony region in the low-magnification captured image acquired by the low-magnification image acquisition unit 20. As a method for specifying a cell colony region, for example, after converting a low-magnification captured image into a binarized image, the location may be specified by automatically extracting the cell colony region by template matching or the like. Moreover, about automatic extraction of a cell colony area | region, you may make it use not only the method mentioned above but another well-known method.

  In addition to automatic extraction, the display control unit 27 causes the display 4 to display a low-magnification captured image, the user designates a cell colony region in the low-magnification captured image using the input device 5, and the designated coordinates The colony region specifying unit 21 may acquire position information such as

  The maturity information acquisition unit 22 acquires information related to the maturity of cells. Information related to the maturity acquired by the maturity information acquisition unit 22 is used when the attention area determination unit 23 determines the attention area in the cell colony area. This attention area becomes the imaging target area of the above-described high-magnification imaging.

  In the present embodiment, the cell maturity is divided into three stages, ie, the initial stage of culture, the middle stage of culture, and the late stage of culture, and information related to the maturity level of the cell is acquired by the maturity level information acquisition unit 22. The stage to which the maturity of the cell belongs is obtained.

  The cell maturity is divided into the early stage, middle stage of culture and late stage of culture because the morphology of the cell colony differs depending on each stage, and it is desirable to set the attention area according to the form. .

  Specifically, for example, in the case of a stem cell colony, undifferentiated cells are uniformly distributed in the colony region at the initial stage of culture as shown in FIG. In the middle of the culture, as shown in FIG. 3, undifferentiated cells are densely distributed in the central part of the colony region, and differentiated cells are distributed in the peripheral part.

  Furthermore, at the later stage of the culture, as shown in FIG. 3, differentiation is likely to occur in the central part of the colony region, and a so-called hole phenomenon may occur. As a result, differentiated cells are distributed in the central portion and the peripheral portion of the colony region, and differentiated cells are distributed in an intermediate portion between the central portion and the peripheral portion.

  As described above, since the form of the cell colony region changes in the initial stage of culture, the middle stage of culture, and the late stage of culture, in this embodiment, the region of interest is set according to this form change. That is, an area for imaging at a high magnification is determined.

  The information related to the maturity level of the cell acquired by the maturity level information acquisition unit 22 may be any information as long as it is information indicating the stage of the maturity level of the cell. For example, the culture period measured by a timer or the like is used as the maturity level. It can be acquired as related information. Also, not only in the culture period, for example, the image information of the cell colony region in the low magnification image is analyzed, and the size of the cell colony, the number of cells in the stem cell colony or the number of cells per unit area smaller than the stem cell colony is calculated. You may make it measure, and it may be made to acquire as information relevant to a maturity degree as the maturity degree progresses, so that there are many measured cell numbers. As the size of the cell colony, the area, perimeter, maximum diameter, etc. of the cell colony can be obtained. In addition, what is necessary is just to make it acquire about the image information of a cell colony area | region based on the positional information on the cell colony specified by the colony area | region specification part 21. FIG. For the measurement of the number of cells in the cell colony, for example, individual cells or nuclei and nucleoli in the cells may be detected by pattern matching, and the number of detected individual cells may be counted. .

  Further, for example, the brightness of the image of the cell colony region, texture such as uniformity and roughness may be acquired as information related to maturity. For example, when the cell to be imaged is a stem cell, the degree of maturity advances and the density of the stem cells increases, and the stem cells are further stacked to gradually increase the luminance of the image. Therefore, it can be said that the higher the brightness is, the more mature the progress is.

  Further, when the maturity progresses and the stem cells proliferate and are stacked as described above, the uniformity of the image is increased and a smooth image with less unevenness is obtained. Therefore, it can be said that the degree of maturity progresses as the uniformity of the image is higher or the image is smoother. As a method for acquiring image uniformity and smoothness feature quantities, a known method can be used.

  Moreover, you may make it acquire the feature-value of the shape of a stem cell colony as information relevant to a maturity degree. As the maturity of the stem cells progresses, the shape of the stem cell colony gradually approaches a circular shape, and then the differentiation of the peripheral portion proceeds and the complexity of the edge increases. Therefore, the feature amount of the change in the shape of the stem cell colony can be acquired as the feature amount related to the maturity.

  Moreover, you may make it acquire the feature-value of the thickness of a stem cell colony as information relevant to a maturity degree. As the maturity of stem cells progresses, the stem cell colonies gradually become thicker. Therefore, such a feature quantity of the thickness of the stem cell colony can be acquired as a feature quantity related to maturity. The thickness of the stem cell colony may be measured by, for example, a separately provided measuring device.

  The information related to the maturity described above may be set and input by the user using the input device 5, and not only the culture period and the size of the cell colony described above, but also the cell passage number The user may input the information related to the degree.

  In the present embodiment, the cell maturity is divided into three stages, but is not limited to three stages, and may be divided into two stages or four or more stages. In addition, various intervals can be set for the intervals of each stage according to the culture conditions and the like.

  The attention area determination unit 23 determines the attention area in the cell colony based on the information related to the maturity degree acquired by the maturity degree information acquisition part 22 and the position of the colony area specified by the colony area specification part 21. Is.

  Specifically, the attention area determination unit 23 of the present embodiment has a table associating the culture period and the attention area as shown in FIG. 4, and determines the attention area with reference to this table. . Moreover, in this embodiment, the attention area | region determination part 23 acquires culture conditions other than a culture | cultivation period, Based on the acquired culture | cultivation conditions and culture | cultivation period, it refers to the table shown in FIG. Is to determine.

  Examples of the culture conditions include the type of scaffold and medium, and whether or not different types of heterogeneous cells (feeder cells) are used. Even in the same culture period, the stage of maturity varies depending on these culture conditions. In this embodiment, the region of interest is determined in consideration of the culture conditions.

In addition, the culture conditions are not limited to those described above, and any conditions that affect the cell growth rate may be used. For example, culture conditions such as temperature, humidity, or CO ₂ concentration may be included. May be. Note that the culture condition information is set and input by the user using the input device 5, for example, but the temperature and humidity as described above may be the conditions measured with a thermometer or hygrometer.

  Specifically, for example, when the culture condition is condition A and the culture period is the initial culture period, the attention area determination unit 23 observes mainly the state of undifferentiated cells, as shown in FIG. When a region of interest (rectangular region indicated by a bold line) is set at the center and the culture period is the middle stage of culture, in order to observe how much differentiation of undifferentiated cells has progressed, as shown in FIG. When the region of interest is set in the peripheral part and the culture period is the latter part of the culture, the region of interest is again determined as the central part in order to observe the above-described hole range. Note that the range of the attention area may be a range of a divided area obtained by dividing the imaging area of the low-magnification captured image into a plurality of rectangular areas as shown in FIG. 5, for example.

  For example, when the culture condition is condition B, unlike the case of condition A, when the culture period is the late stage of culture, the degree of differentiation of the undifferentiated cells is observed. The area is determined as the peripheral part.

  As described above, the attention area determination unit 23 determines the attention area at different positions depending on the stage of maturity level. It is appropriately set depending on the state of the cell colony.

  In the above description, an area that is estimated to be highly differentiated by cell maturation is determined as an attention area by using the central area in the early stage of culture, the peripheral area in the middle stage of culture, and the central area in the late stage of culture as the observation area. However, not only the central part and the peripheral part as described above, but also the left half of the cell colony area is matured while remaining undifferentiated. There are cases where only half of the cells are differentiated, and the regions that are likely to be differentiated differ depending on the cell type and maturity.

  Therefore, in consideration of the cell type and maturity, an area estimated to have a high possibility of differentiation may be appropriately set as the attention area. The region estimated to have a high possibility of differentiation may be set in advance by the user with respect to the table as described above, or automatically determined by analyzing the image of the cell colony region. Also good. For example, the density of cells may be calculated for each divided area in the cell colony area, and an area where the density is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold or greater than the threshold may be an area that is estimated to have a high possibility of differentiation. Note that the density of cells may be calculated by detecting individual cells or nuclei and nucleoli in the cells by pattern matching as described above.

  In addition to the density, a halo generated between individual cells may be detected, and a region in which the area of the halo is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold may be a region that is estimated to have a high possibility of differentiation. Halo is a high-luminance artifact that occurs due to diffracted light that has passed between cells.

  As for the position of the attention area, not only the central part and the peripheral part of the colony area as described above, but also an intermediate part between the central part and the peripheral part is set, and the attention area is determined at the intermediate part. You may do it.

  For example, when the maturity of a cell colony progresses and the cell colony region does not fit within the imaging region of the low-magnification captured image as shown in FIG. 6, the edge of the cell colony region is detected, and the edge It is sufficient to determine the region including the region of interest. The upper diagram of FIG. 6 shows an example of the position of the region of interest when the edge of the cell colony region exists at the upper right corner in the imaging region of the low-magnification captured image. The lower diagram of FIG. It shows an example of the position of the region of interest when the edge of the cell colony region exists around the center of the imaging region of the low-magnification captured image.

  Specifically, for example, the stage of the expansion growth period is set as in the case of the condition C of the table shown in FIG. 4, and when the culture period is at this stage, the edge of the cell colony region is detected, A region including an edge may be determined as a region of interest. Note that the stage of the expansion growth phase may be determined from the culture period as described above, or by detecting that a circular region composed of a large number of cells is not extracted from the low-magnification captured image. You may make it do.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the imaging control unit 26 outputs a control signal to the control unit 12 of the cell culture device 1 based on the attention area determined by the attention area determination unit 23, so that the attention area in the cell colony has a high magnification. The movement of the stage 10 in the XY direction is controlled so as to be imaged. Further, when the phase contrast microscope 3 is configured so that the magnification of the phase difference lens 34 can be automatically changed, the imaging control unit 26 changes the phase difference of the high magnification from the phase difference lens 34 of low magnification. A control signal is output so as to be changed to the lens 34. If the phase contrast microscope 3 is to manually change the magnification of the phase difference lens 34, the user can change the phase difference lens 34 to the high magnification phase difference lens 34 at the time of high magnification imaging. Good.

  Then, the imaging control unit 26 adjusts the position of the culture vessel 15 in the XY direction, and high-magnification imaging is performed in a state where the magnification of the phase difference lens 34 is changed to a high magnification. Is imaged.

  The high-magnification image acquisition unit 24 acquires the high-magnification captured image captured by the phase-contrast microscope 3 as described above, and stores this.

  The display control unit 27 displays a low-magnification captured image or a high-magnification captured image on the display 4.

  The input device 5 includes a mouse, a keyboard, and the like, and receives an operation input by a user. For example, the input device 5 can accept a setting input when capturing a magnification when capturing a low-magnification image or a high-magnification image. The input device 5 accepts setting inputs such as the culture conditions and the culture period described above.

  Next, the operation of the above-described cell culture observation system will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, in the cell culture apparatus 1, the culture to be photographed is selected from the plurality of accommodated culture containers by the transport unit 11, and the selected culture container 15 is placed on the stage 10 (S10).

  Then, the magnification of the phase difference lens 34 of the phase-contrast microscope 3 is set to a low magnification, and a low-magnification captured image is captured, and the captured low-magnification captured image is acquired by the low-magnification image acquisition unit 20 (S12). . The low-magnification captured image acquired by the low-magnification image acquisition unit 20 is output to the display control unit 27 and displayed on the display 4 by the display control unit 27.

  Moreover, the low-magnification captured image acquired by the low-magnification image acquisition unit 20 is output to the colony region specifying unit 21, and the colony region specifying unit 21 is based on the input low-magnification captured image. The position of the colony region in the inside is specified (S14).

  On the other hand, the maturity level information acquisition unit 22 acquires information on the culture period and information on the culture conditions as information related to the maturity level of the cells by setting input by the user (S16).

  Then, the information on the culture period and the culture condition acquired by the maturity information acquisition unit 22 is output to the attention area determination unit 23, and the attention area determination unit 23 displays the information on the culture period and the culture condition, the position of the colony region, Based on the above, the attention area which is the imaging target of the high magnification imaging in the phase-contrast microscope 3 is determined and output to the imaging control unit 26 (S18).

  Based on the position information of the attention area determined by the attention area determination section 23, the imaging control section 26 moves the stage 10 in the XY directions so that the attention area is imaged at a high magnification (S20). At this time, the phase difference lens 34 in the phase difference microscope 3 is changed to a phase difference lens 34 for high magnification imaging.

  Then, the phase-contrast microscope 3 captures a high-magnification captured image for detailed observation with the focus position adjusted. The high-magnification captured image captured by the phase-contrast microscope 3 is acquired by the high-magnification image acquisition unit 24 of the cell image acquisition device 2 and is output to the display control unit 27 (S22). The display control unit 27 displays the input high-magnification captured image for detailed observation on the display 4 (S24).

  According to the cell culture observation system of the above embodiment, the attention area in the colony area of the cell is determined based on the information related to the maturity level, and a high-magnification image obtained by imaging the attention area at a high magnification is acquired. As a result, the region of interest can be appropriately limited according to the shape change of the colony region, and the amount of data to be processed and stored can be reduced.

  In the cell culture observation system of the above embodiment, the region of interest is determined based on information related to cell maturity and the culture conditions. Since the change is different, the region of interest may be determined in consideration of the cell type.

  Specifically, for example, a table as shown in FIG. 4 may be set for each cell type, and the attention area determination unit 23 may acquire the cell type information and determine the attention area. . Examples of cell type information include pluripotent stem cells such as iPS cells, ES cells, and STAP cells as described above, cells such as nerves, skin, and liver that are induced to differentiate from stem cells, and cancer cells. The cell type information may be set and input by the user using the input device 5, for example.

  Specifically, for example, the tip position of a blood vessel in a cardiomyocyte colony or a skin cell colony is considered to vary depending on the culture period. Therefore, an area including the tip position of the blood vessel corresponding to the culture period may be set as the attention area.

  Further, in the cell culture observation system of the above embodiment, the position of the attention area in the cell colony is determined based on the information related to the maturity of the cell. You may make it change the focus parameter in the focus control about Z direction.

As described above, for example, in the case of a stem cell colony, since the undifferentiated cells are uniformly distributed in the colony region as shown in FIG. 3 at the initial stage of culture, the height h of the stem cell nucleus at the center of the colony region The height _hedge of the nucleus of the _center and the peripheral stem cells is the same.

In the middle of the culture, as shown in FIG. 3, undifferentiated cells are densely distributed in the central part of the colony region, and differentiated cells are distributed in the peripheral part. FIG. 8 shows a plan view (upper view) and an elevation view (lower view) of undifferentiated cells and differentiated cells. Differentiated cells have a nucleus / cytoplasm ratio higher than that of undifferentiated cells. Since it decreases, the height of the nucleus decreases. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the height h _center of the stem cell nucleus in the center of the colony region is higher by Δh than the height h _edge of the stem cell nucleus in the peripheral portion.

Furthermore, at the later stage of the culture, as shown in FIG. 3, differentiation is likely to occur in the central part of the colony region, and a so-called hole phenomenon may occur. Therefore, the height h _center of the stem cell nucleus in the central part of the colony region is the same as the height h _edge of the stem cell nucleus in the peripheral part, but the nucleus of the intermediate stem cell between the central part and the peripheral part is the same. The height h _middle is increased by Δh.

  As described above, the shape of the cell colony region changes in the initial culture period, the intermediate culture period, and the late culture period, and the height of the nucleus differs depending on the position in the XY direction. It is desirable to set the initial focus search position for autofocus.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, a focus parameter determination unit 28 is further provided. The focus parameter determination unit 28 determines a focus search initial position according to the position of the region of interest, and based on the determined focus search initial position. Thus, the imaging control unit 26 may control autofocus in the phase-contrast microscope 3.

  Specifically, for example, a table as shown in FIG. 10 is preset in the focus parameter determination unit 28. The table shown in FIG. 10 is a table in which cell types, culture conditions, culture periods, positions of interest, and autofocus focus search initial positions are associated with each other. In other words, the focus parameter determination unit 28 determines the focus search initial position in consideration of the cell type, the culture condition, and the culture period in addition to the position of the region of interest. In addition, in the table shown in FIG. 10, although the relative relationship of the offset amount (distance) from the bottom surface of the culture vessel 15 is shown as the focus search initial position, the absolute value of the offset amount is actually acquired, The offset amount is determined as the focus search initial position. In the table shown in FIG. 5, the ES cell offset amount is actually set but not shown.

  For example, when the cell type information is iPS cells, the culture condition information is condition A, and the region of interest is the center of the cell colony region, the culture period is the initial stage of culture and the culture If the focus search initial position offset is relatively small (closer to the cell installation surface side) in the later stage, and the focus search initial position offset is in the middle culture stage The amount may be relatively large (away from the cell installation surface).

  Similarly, even if the cell type information is iPS cells and the culture condition information is condition A, if the region of interest is the periphery of the cell colony region, the offset amount is set according to the culture period. A relatively small offset amount may be determined without changing.

  Thus, by acquiring the offset amount with reference to the table shown in FIG. 10, it is possible to determine an appropriate focus search initial position according to the position of the region of interest.

  Further, the thickness information for each position in the XY plane of the bottom of the culture vessel 15 and the thickness information for each position in the XY plane of the scaffold are acquired, and the focus search initial position is also taken into consideration. It may be determined.

  In the above description, the method of determining the focus search initial position in autofocus has been described, but the focus parameter determination unit 28 also determines the focus search range, the focus search width, the focus search order, the number of focus operations, and the like.

  The focus search range is a change range of the focus position in autofocus control, and has a lower limit value and an upper limit value. For the focus search range, for example, a table in which cell types and focus search ranges are associated with each other may be set in advance, and a wider focus search range may be determined as the cell size increases.

  In addition, a table in which a region of interest in a cell colony region and a focus search range are associated with each other may be set in advance, and a focus search range corresponding to the position of the region of interest may be determined. In this case, for example, when the attention area is the central part, a relatively wide focus search range may be set, and when the attention area is the peripheral part, a relatively narrow focus search range may be determined. .

  A table in which the culture period and the focus search range are associated with each other may be set in advance. In this case, for example, the focus search range may be expanded as the culture period becomes longer.

  Further, the focus search range may be determined for each combination of the cell type, the position of the region of interest, and the culture period.

  The focus search width is a change width when the focus position is changed once in autofocus control. As culture progresses and cell colonies expand, it is considered that the density of cells varies depending on the location. Therefore, there is a possibility that the probability that the cell nucleus is out of the focus search range is increased with the focus search width set in accordance with the initial stage of the culture in which the variation in cell density is small.

  Therefore, for example, a table in which the culture period and the focus search width are associated with each other may be set in advance, and the focus search width may be increased as the culture period becomes longer.

  In addition, the external force received by the individual cells from the surrounding cells becomes smaller as the area around the cell colony region becomes easier to move, and the variation becomes larger. Therefore, a table in which the position of the region of interest in the cell colony region is associated with the focus search width may be set in advance, and the focus search width may be increased toward the periphery of the cell colony region.

  Further, the focus search width may be determined for each combination of the position of the region of interest in the cell colony and the culture period.

  As the focus search order, when the auto focus control is performed by sequentially changing the focus position from the high position to the low position with reference to the bottom surface of the culture vessel 15, the auto focus is performed by sequentially changing the focus position from the low position to the high position. There is a case where the control is performed and a case where the auto focus control is performed by alternately repeating the change of the focus position in the direction approaching the bottom surface of the culture vessel 15 and the change of the focus position in the direction away from the culture container 15.

  Differentiated cells and cells in the vicinity of the colony are often distributed so as to reach the bottom surface of the culture vessel 15, so it is more efficient to search the focus position from the bottom surface side (low position) of the culture vessel 15. On the other hand, since undifferentiated cells and cells near the center of the cell colony often stand, it is more efficient to search the focus position from a position away from the bottom surface of the culture vessel 15.

  Therefore, a table in which the position of the region of interest in the cell colony region is associated with the focus search order is set in advance, and the center of the cell colony region is searched for the focus position from the low position to the high position, You may make it search a focus position toward the low position from the high position about the peripheral part of a cell colony.

  In addition, as the culture progresses, the variation in the focus position increases as described above. Therefore, it is better to search between the high and low positions than to search for the focus position from either one. It can be considered that there are cases where the number of searches in can be reduced and the total becomes efficient.

  Therefore, for example, a table in which the culture period and the focus search order are associated with each other is set in advance, and in the initial culture period or the intermediate culture period, as described above, from a low position to a high position, or from a high position to a low position. The focus position may be searched for, and in the later stage of culture, the focus position may be searched by alternately sandwiching from a high position and a low position.

  Further, the focus search order may be determined for each combination of the position of the region of interest in the cell colony and the culture period.

  The number of focus operations is the upper limit of the number of changes in focus position in autofocus control. It can be said that strict focus accuracy is required in order to strictly recognize and evaluate the morphology of the cell nucleus and the tissue (for example, nucleolus) corresponding to the cell nucleus in the early stage to the middle stage of the culture. On the other hand, as the culture progresses, cell nuclei and tissues corresponding thereto tend to be difficult to visually recognize due to cell differentiation and lamination, and in this case, it is considered that strict focus accuracy is not necessary.

  Therefore, for example, a table in which the culture period is associated with the number of focus operations may be set in advance, and the number of focus operations may be reduced as the culture progresses. On the other hand, in some cases, it may be desirable to evaluate the properties (chromatin aggregation in the nucleus) that develop as the culture progresses. In such cases, increase the number of focusing operations as the culture progresses to increase the focus accuracy. Also good.

  In addition, a table in which the position of the region of interest in the cell colony region is associated with the number of focus operations is set in advance, and the central portion is increased by increasing the number of focus operations toward the center rather than the periphery of the cell colony region. The focus accuracy may be increased. On the other hand, if you want to focus on the periphery of the cell colony area, increase the number of focusing operations in the periphery rather than the center of the cell colony area to increase the focus accuracy of the periphery. Also good.

  Alternatively, the number of focus operations may be determined for each combination of the position of the region of interest in the cell colony and the culture period.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cell culture apparatus 2 Cell image acquisition apparatus 3 Phase contrast microscope 4 Display 5 Input apparatus 10 Stage 11 Conveyance part 12 Control part 15 Culture container 20 Low magnification image acquisition part 21 Colony area | region identification part 22 Maturity information acquisition part 23 Attention area determination Unit 24 high-magnification image acquisition unit 25 control unit 26 imaging control unit 27 display control unit 28 focus parameter determination unit 31 white light source 32 slit plate 33 objective lens 34 phase difference lens 35 objective lens 36 phase plate 37 imaging lens 38 imaging element

Claims (13)

A maturity information acquisition unit for acquiring information related to the maturity of cells to be cultured;
A cell image obtained by imaging the cell at a first magnification is obtained, and a colony region specifying unit that specifies a colony region of the cell in the cell image;
Based on information related to the maturity for each cell type, a region of interest determination unit that determines a portion of the region of interest in the colony region of the cell;
A cell image acquisition apparatus, comprising: a high-magnification image acquisition unit that acquires a high-magnification captured image obtained by imaging only the part of the region of interest at a second magnification higher than the first magnification.   The cell image acquisition device according to claim 1, wherein the attention area determination unit determines the attention area at a different position depending on a stage of maturity of the cell.   The cell image acquisition device according to claim 2, wherein the region of interest determination unit determines, as the region of interest, a region that is estimated to be highly likely to be differentiated by the maturation of the cell.   When the attention area determination unit determines that the cell maturity is in the initial stage, the center area in the colony area is determined as the attention area, and in the middle stage that is advanced from the initial stage. The cell image acquisition device according to claim 2, wherein a peripheral portion in the colony region is determined as the attention region. 5. The cell image according to claim 2, wherein the region of interest determination unit determines a central portion in the colony region as the region of interest when the maturity of the cell is in a late stage. Acquisition device.   The said attention area | region determination part determines the area | region containing the edge of the said colony area | region as said attention area | region when the stage of the said maturity level is the preset expansion growth stage. The cell image acquisition device according to claim 1.   The cell image acquisition device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the information related to the maturity is information on a culture period of the cells.   The said maturity information acquisition part acquires the information relevant to the said maturity by analyzing the image information of the colony area | region of the said cell in the said cell image. Cell image acquisition device.   The cell image acquisition device according to claim 8, wherein the information related to the maturity is information related to a shape or a size of a colony region of the cell.   The said attention area | region determination part determines the attention area | region in the colony area | region of the said cell based on the information relevant to the said maturity, and the culture conditions of the said cell. Cell image acquisition device.   According to the position of the region of interest determined based on the information relating to the maturity level, at least one of an autofocus focus search initial position, a focus search range, a focus search width, a focus search order, and the number of focus operations is selected. The cell image acquisition device according to claim 1, further comprising a focus parameter determination unit for determining. Obtain information related to the maturity of the cells being cultured,
Obtaining a cell image of the cell imaged at a first magnification, identifying a colony region of the cell in the cell image;
Based on information related to the maturity for each cell type, determine a region of interest in the colony region of the cell,
A cell image acquisition method, comprising: acquiring a high-magnification captured image obtained by imaging only a part of the region of interest at a second magnification higher than the first magnification. A maturity level information acquisition unit for acquiring information related to the maturity level of cells to be cultured;
A cell image obtained by imaging the cell at a first magnification is obtained, and a colony region specifying unit that specifies a colony region of the cell in the cell image;
Based on information related to the maturity for each cell type, a region of interest determination unit that determines a portion of the region of interest in the colony region of the cell;
A cell image acquisition program that functions as a high-magnification image acquisition unit that acquires a high-magnification captured image obtained by imaging only a part of the region of interest at a second magnification higher than the first magnification.

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