JP4690119B2 - Image processing apparatus and image processing program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing program for processing and displaying a series of images, and in particular, an image processing apparatus and an image for processing and displaying a series of observation images including live cells captured at a plurality of observation points. It relates to a processing program.

  Conventionally, observation using various cells as specimens using a microscope or the like has been performed. In the observation of living cells over time using a microscope, individual living cells are usually recognized and recognized from the observation images obtained by imaging the living cells at multiple time points by visual and manual operations. Each live cell is compared between observation images that are continuous in time series, and the temporal change of the feature value is observed.

  Such a conventional observation method has a problem that the load on the observer increases as the number of observation cells, observation frequency, observation range, observation time, etc. increase. On the other hand, individual cells are detected from the observed image, feature quantities related to the position, shape, etc. of each detected cell are extracted, and the extracted feature quantities are graphed or imaged for easy observation. Has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  The image processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 uses a phase difference image obtained by imaging a cell and a fluorescence image, and uses a Snakes method to which GVF (Gradient Vector Flow) is added, as an outline as a feature amount of the cell. Is extracted, and a contour image obtained by imaging the extracted contour is displayed. Here, the method of Snakes is a contour extraction method that extracts a contour of an imaging target using a dynamic contour model. In addition, in the cell shape extraction device disclosed in Patent Document 2, the outline of a cell is extracted from the observation image obtained by imaging the cell using a concentration gradient, and the outline image indicating the extracted outline is superimposed on the observation image. It is trying to display.

JP 2004-54347 A Japanese Patent No. 3314759

  However, in the above-described conventional image processing apparatus, although the contour as the feature amount is displayed as an image, since the temporary point contour image is displayed alone, the contour change over time and the observation image are displayed. There is a problem that it is difficult to grasp the correspondence with the contour image. Further, in the above-described conventional cell shape extraction apparatus, the observation image to be superimposed and the contour image are limited to images at the same time, and thus there is a problem that it is difficult to observe the temporal change of the contour.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and displays an image so that the temporal change in the feature amount of a living cell included in the observation image and the correspondence between the observation image and the feature amount can be easily observed. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus and an image processing program.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus according to claim 1 is an image processing apparatus that processes and displays a series of observation images including live cells imaged at a plurality of observation points. A feature quantity calculating means for detecting a cell image area corresponding to the living cell from each observation image in the image, and calculating a cell feature quantity indicating a feature of each detected cell image area; and the feature quantity calculating means And a feature amount storage means for storing the cell feature amount calculated in accordance with the observation time point in association with the observation time point, and a control for imaging and displaying the cell feature amount corresponding to different observation time points as a single display image. And an image display control means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image processing device according to the above invention, wherein the feature image generation means generates a cell feature image obtained by imaging the cell feature quantity calculated by the feature quantity calculation means at each observation time point. In addition, the image display control means performs control to superimpose the cell feature images at different observation points and display them as the single display image.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus for processing and displaying a series of observation images including live cells imaged at a plurality of observation points, and displaying each observation image in the series of observation images. A feature amount calculating means for detecting a cell image region corresponding to the living cell from the inside and calculating a cell feature amount indicating a feature of each detected cell image region; and a cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculating means Is stored in association with the observation time point, the observation image captured at an observation time point, and the cell feature amount corresponding to an observation time point different from the observation image are displayed in a single display. And image display control means for performing control to display the image as an image.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the above invention, the image display control unit is configured to detect the observation image captured at a certain observation time point and each of two or more observation time points different from the observation image. Control is performed to display the corresponding cell feature amount as the single display image.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image processing apparatus according to the above invention, wherein the feature image generation means generates a cell feature image obtained by imaging the cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculation means at each observation time point. The image display control means superimposes the observation image captured at a certain observation time point and the cell feature image at an observation time point at least one time point different from the observation image to overlap the single image. Control is performed to display as a display image.

  In the image processing apparatus according to claim 6, in the above invention, the image display control unit performs control to display the cell feature amount as the single display image with a distinction according to the observation time point. It is characterized by performing.

  The image processing apparatus according to claim 7 is the image processing apparatus according to the above invention, wherein the image display control unit changes the at least one of a display luminance value and a display hue for each observation time point and sets the cell feature amount to the single unit. The display is controlled as a display image.

  Further, in the image processing apparatus according to claim 8, in the above invention, the image display control means stepwisely displays at least one of a display luminance value and a display hue for each observation time according to a time series order of the observation time. Control is performed to change and display the cell feature amount as the single display image.

  The image processing apparatus according to claim 9 is the above invention, wherein the change amount of the cell feature amount between observation images at different observation time points is calculated, and the observation time point is calculated based on the calculated change amount. Determining whether or not the living cells included in each of the observed images have the same, and associating means for associating each of the living cells determined to have the identity, wherein the feature amount calculating means includes the cell feature Calculating at least a region position of the cell image region as an amount, and the image display control means is associated by the association unit based on the region position of each cell image region in the single display image. Calculating a relative distance of each living cell, and controlling the display of the cell feature amount as the single display image by changing at least one of the display luminance value and the display hue according to the calculated relative distance. Special To.

  The image processing apparatus according to claim 10, in the above invention, calculates a change amount of the cell feature amount between observation images having different observation time points, and based on the calculated change amount, the observation time point Determining whether or not the living cells included in each of the observed images have the same, and associating means for associating each of the living cells determined to have the identity, wherein the feature amount calculating means includes the cell feature Calculating at least the luminance sum or area of the cell image region as a quantity, and the image display control means, based on the luminance sum or area of each cell image region, each living cell associated by the association means The amount of change in the luminance sum or area in between is calculated, and the cell feature amount is displayed as the single display image by changing at least one of the display luminance value and the display hue according to the calculated amount of change. And performing control that.

  An image processing apparatus according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention includes a selection information input unit that receives selection information for selecting the living cell in the above-described invention, and the image display control unit includes the single display image. The image area corresponding to the living cell selected by the selection information is controlled to be extracted and displayed.

  In the image processing apparatus according to claim 12, in the above invention, the feature amount calculation unit calculates a position characteristic indicating a feature of the position or shape of the living cell as a cell feature amount, and the feature image generation unit Is characterized in that the position characteristic calculated by the feature quantity calculating means is imaged as the single display image.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the above invention, the position characteristic is at least one of a contour, a centroid position, and a cell nucleus centroid position of the living cell.

  According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the above invention, the image processing apparatus further includes a luminance correction unit that corrects the luminance value of each observation image.

  An image processing program according to claim 15 is for processing and displaying the observation image on an image processing apparatus that processes and displays a series of observation images including live cells imaged at a plurality of observation points. An image processing program, wherein the image processing device detects a cell image region corresponding to the living cell from each observation image in the series of observation images, and shows the characteristics of each detected cell image region A feature amount calculating procedure for calculating a cell feature amount, a feature amount storing procedure for storing the cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculating procedure in association with the observation time point, and the cell feature amount corresponding to a different observation time point And an image display control procedure for performing a control for imaging and displaying each other as a single display image.

  According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing program according to the sixteenth aspect, a feature image generation procedure for generating a cell feature image obtained by imaging the cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculation unit at each observation time point is provided. Further, the image display control procedure is further characterized in that the cell feature images at different observation points are superposed on each other and displayed as the single display image.

  According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing program for processing and displaying an observation image on an image processing apparatus that processes and displays a series of observation images including live cells imaged at a plurality of observation points. An image processing program, wherein the image processing device detects a cell image region corresponding to the living cell from each observation image in the series of observation images, and shows the characteristics of each detected cell image region A feature amount calculating procedure for calculating a cell feature amount, a feature amount storing procedure for storing the cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculating procedure in association with the observation time point, and the observation image captured at a certain observation time point And an image display control procedure for performing control for imaging and displaying the cell feature amount corresponding to an observation time point different from the observation image as a single display image. .

  In the image processing program according to claim 18, in the above invention, the image display control procedure includes the observation image captured at a certain observation time point and each of two or more observation time points different from the observation image. Control is performed to display the corresponding cell feature amount as the single display image.

  An image processing program according to claim 19 includes a feature image generation procedure for generating a cell feature image obtained by imaging the cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculation procedure at each observation time point in the above invention. The image display control procedure further includes the step of superimposing the observation image captured at a certain observation time point and the cell feature image at an observation time point of at least one time point different from the observation image. Control is performed to display as a display image.

  Further, in the image processing program according to claim 20, in the above invention, the image display control procedure performs control to display the cell feature amount as the single display image with a distinction according to the observation time point. It is characterized by performing.

  The image processing program according to claim 21 is the image processing program according to the above invention, wherein the image display control procedure is configured to change the cell feature amount by changing at least one of a display luminance value and a display hue at each observation time point. The display is controlled as a display image.

  The image processing program according to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention is the image processing method according to the above invention, wherein the image display control procedure is configured to stepwise display at least one of a display luminance value and a display hue at each observation time according to a time-series order of the observation time Control is performed to change and display the cell feature amount as the single display image.

  The image processing program according to claim 23, in the above invention, calculates a change amount of the cell feature amount between observation images at different observation points, and based on the calculated change amount, Determining whether or not the living cells included in the different observation images have the same, and executing an association procedure for associating each of the living cells determined to have the identity. The region position of at least the cell image region is calculated as a feature amount, and the image display control procedure is associated by the association procedure based on the region position of each cell image region in the single display image. Control for calculating the relative distance of each live cell obtained and displaying the cell feature amount as the single display image by varying at least one of the display luminance value and the display hue according to the calculated relative distance. And wherein the Ukoto.

  The image processing program according to claim 24, in the above invention, calculates a change amount of the cell feature amount between observation images at different observation points, and based on the calculated change amount, Determining whether or not the living cells included in the different observation images have the same, and executing an association procedure for associating each of the living cells determined to have the identity. At least the luminance sum or area of the cell image region is calculated as a feature amount, and the image display control procedure is performed based on the luminance sum or area of each cell image region and The amount of change in the luminance sum or area between cells is calculated, and at least one of the display luminance value and the display hue is changed according to the calculated amount of change, and the cell feature amount is converted into the single display image. And performing control to display in.

  An image processing program according to claim 25, in the above-described invention, causes a selection information input procedure for receiving selection information for selecting the living cell to be executed, and the image display control procedure is performed in the single display image. Then, control is performed to extract and display an image region corresponding to a living cell selected by the selection information.

  In the image processing program according to claim 26, in the above invention, the feature amount calculation procedure calculates a position characteristic indicating a feature of the position or shape of the living cell as a cell feature amount, and the feature image generation procedure The method is characterized in that the position characteristic calculated by the feature amount calculation procedure is imaged as the single display image.

  According to the image processing apparatus and the image processing program of the present invention, an image is displayed so that the temporal change of the feature amount of the living cell included in the observation image and the correspondence between the observation image and the feature amount can be easily observed. be able to.

  Exemplary embodiments of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. In the description of the drawings, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.

(Embodiment 1)
First, the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, an image processing apparatus 1 includes an image processing unit 2 that processes an input image, a display unit 3 that displays various types of information, an input unit 4 that receives input of various types of information, and various types of information. A storage unit 5 that stores data and a control unit 6 that controls processing and operation of each unit of the image processing apparatus 1 are provided. The image processing unit 2, the display unit 3, the input unit 4, and the storage unit 5 are electrically connected to the control unit 6.

  The image processing unit 2 includes a luminance correction unit 2a, a feature amount calculation unit 2b, a feature image generation unit 2c, and a cell tracking unit 2d as an association unit, and a plurality of time points that are images stored in the observation image storage unit 5a. A series of observation images including the live cells imaged in is processed. Each unit included in the image processing unit 2 is controlled by the image processing control unit 6a.

  The luminance correction unit 2a performs luminance correction processing for adjusting luminance values of a series of observed images by a known gradation conversion process such as gamma conversion. As a result, the brightness correction unit 2a can improve the contrast of the observation image, enable visual observation of living cells that have been difficult to visually recognize, and increase the calculation accuracy of the feature amount by the feature amount calculation unit 2b. Can be improved.

  The observed image after the luminance correction processing is recorded in the observed image storage unit 5a by the image processing control unit 6a. At this time, the image processing control unit 6a records the observation image after the luminance correction processing so as to update the observation image that is the original image. Note that the image processing control unit 6a may record the observation image after the luminance correction processing while storing the original image.

  The feature amount calculation unit 2b detects a cell region that is an image region corresponding to a captured live cell from each observation image in the series of observation images stored in the observation image storage unit 5a, and detects each detected A cell feature amount indicating a feature of a cell region is calculated as a feature amount of a living cell. Specifically, the feature amount calculation unit 2b calculates a contour, a centroid position, a cell nucleus centroid position, and the like, which are position characteristics indicating features of the position or shape of a living cell as a cell feature amount.

  Further, the feature amount calculation unit 2b calculates, as other cell feature amounts, the area of the cell region, the circularity, the luminance sum that is the sum of the luminance values in the cell region, and the like. Note that the feature quantity calculation unit 2b may calculate the position of the center of gravity of the living cell as the position characteristic of the living cell, or may calculate the position of a predetermined feature point or the like in the cell region.

  In addition, since the feature amount calculation unit 2b normally has a plurality of live cells to be observed, the feature amount calculation unit 2b detects a cell region for each live cell in each observation image and calculates a cell feature amount. At this time, the feature quantity calculation unit 2b assigns a label as a unique area marker to each detected cell area, associates the given label with the calculated various cell feature quantities, and assigns a unique label to each cell area. Cell feature data. This cell feature amount data is associated with the observation time of each observation image by the image processing control unit 6a, and is recorded in the feature amount storage unit 5c in a state in which each cell feature amount, label, and observation time are associated with each other. The In addition, each label given by the feature quantity calculation unit 2b may be any notation using a number, alphabet, symbol, or the like as long as it is unique.

  The feature image generation unit 2c generates a cell feature image by imaging the position characteristics in each observation image calculated by the feature amount calculation unit 2b. In particular, the feature image generation unit 2c generates a cell feature image for each of various position characteristics. For example, a contour image indicating the outline of a living cell, a center of gravity image indicating the center of gravity of the living cell, and a cell nucleus indicating the center of gravity of the cell nucleus. A centroid image or the like is generated. Then, the feature image generation unit 2c associates each generated cell feature image with an observation time point corresponding to the cell feature amount (positional characteristic) represented by each cell feature image. Each cell feature image generated in this way is recorded in the feature image storage unit 5b by the image processing control unit 6a.

  The cell tracking unit 2d calculates the change amount of the cell feature amount between the observation images having different observation time points, and based on the calculated change amount, the living cells included in the observation images having different observation time points have the same identity. It is determined whether or not there is, and an associating process for associating each living cell determined to be identical is performed. At this time, the cell tracking unit 2d performs association by assigning the same label to the cell region of each living cell determined to be identical. Specifically, the cell tracking unit 2d refers to the label given to each cell region by the feature amount calculation unit 2b, and for example, among the living cells that are identified as the same, the observation time point is the previous living cell. The given label is given to a living cell whose observation time is later.

  The cell tracking unit 2d executes such association processing so that each living cell is associated between any two or more observation images included in the series of observation images. For example, the cell tracking unit 2d performs association processing between two or more observation images that are continuous in time series, or between two or more observation images that correspond to observation time points that are separated by a predetermined time interval, By repeating this association process in time series starting from the first observation image and shifting the observation image to be processed in the order of the observation time points, the association of the living cells is performed with all of the series of observation images. As a result, the cell tracking unit 2d can track individual living cells at each observation time point in time series.

  The label newly given to each cell region by the association processing is added and recorded by the image processing control unit 6a to the corresponding cell feature amount data stored in the feature amount storage unit 5c. At this time, the image processing control unit 6a records the label given by the association process so as to update the label given by the feature amount storage unit 5c.

  The display unit 3 includes a CRT, a liquid crystal display, and the like, and displays various types of information including an image processed by the image processing unit 2. In particular, the display unit 3 superimposes and displays a plurality of images at different observation times from among a series of observation images and cell feature images based on an instruction from the image display control unit 6b.

  The input unit 4 includes a communication interface such as USB and IEEE1394, various switches, input keys, a mouse, a touch panel, and the like, and receives input of an image to be processed by the image processing apparatus 1 and various processing information. In particular, the input unit 4 includes an observation image input unit 4a and a display image selection unit 4b. The observation image input unit 4a receives a series of observation image inputs from an external device via a communication interface. The display image selection unit 4b receives input of image selection information for selecting an observation image and a cell feature image to be displayed on the display unit 3. An observer can select an observation image and a cell feature image to be displayed by inputting image selection information via the display image selection unit 4b.

  Note that the observation image input unit 4a may include an interface corresponding to a portable storage medium such as a flash memory, a CD, a DVD, or a hard disk, and may receive a series of observation image inputs from the portable storage medium. The observation image input unit 4a includes an imaging device realized by using an imaging lens, an imaging device such as a CCD, and an A / D converter, and a series of images generated by imaging live cells with the imaging device. The observed image may be acquired.

  The storage unit 5 is realized by a ROM that stores various processing programs and the like in advance, and a RAM that stores processing parameters, processing data, and the like of each processing. In particular, the storage unit 5 stores an image processing program for processing and displaying a series of observation images, which is a program executed by the control unit 6. The storage unit 5 is generated by an observation image storage unit 5a that stores a series of observation images, a feature image storage unit 5b that stores a cell feature image generated by the feature image generation unit 2c, and a feature amount calculation unit 2b. And a feature amount storage unit 5c for storing the feature amount data. The storage unit 5 may include a portable storage medium such as a flash memory, a CD, a DVD, and a hard disk as a removable storage unit.

  The control unit 6 is realized by a CPU or the like that executes various processing programs stored in the storage unit 5. In particular, the control unit 6 executes an image processing program stored in the storage unit 5 and controls each component corresponding to each process in the image processing program. The control unit 6 includes an image processing control unit 6a and an image display control unit 6b. The image processing control unit 6a controls processing and operations performed by the image processing unit 2, and the image display control unit 6b Control which superimposes several images from which observation time differs among each observation image memorize | stored in the memory | storage part 5a and each cell feature image memorize | stored in the feature image memory | storage part 5b, and displays them on the display part 3 as a single image I do.

  The images that are superimposed and displayed as one image by the image display control unit 6b are a plurality of images selected by the image selection information input from the display image selection unit 4b among the observation image and the cell feature image. The plurality of images may be cell feature images corresponding to different observation time points, or may be an observation image and at least one cell feature image corresponding to an observation time point different from the observation image. The image display control unit 6b displays cell feature images corresponding to different observation time points as a single image so that the observer can easily compare cell feature values corresponding to different observation time points. ing. In addition, the image display control unit 6b superimposes and displays an observation image and a cell feature image corresponding to different observation time points as a single image, so that an observation image at a certain time point and a cell feature at another observation time point are displayed. The quantity can be easily compared with the observer.

  Generation of the image for superimposing and displaying the cell feature images or the observation image and the cell feature image as one image is performed using a known alpha blending process, a mask synthesis process, or the like. At this time, when superimposing a plurality of cell feature images or the like as one image, the image display control unit 6b distinguishes each cell feature image for each corresponding observation time point by distinguishing each cell feature image. To display. For example, in the case of alpha blending processing, the weighting coefficient value in alpha blending processing is biased according to the observation time points, so that at least the display brightness and display hue between the cell feature amounts in the cell feature image corresponding to each observation time point are displayed. Display one differently. In the case of mask composition processing, a mask image that preferentially displays cell feature values of cell feature images at newer observation points is used, and the display brightness of the cell feature images changes step by step at each observation point. Then, the mask composition processing is performed.

  At this time, the image display control unit 6b may be configured so that at least one of the display brightness and the display hue of the cell feature amount changes stepwise in accordance with the time-series order at the observation time corresponding to each cell feature image to be superimposed. Specifically, for example, the display brightness is changed stepwise in accordance with the time-series order of the observation time points so that the display brightness becomes larger as the cell feature amount at the newer observation time point, and the newer the observation time point is displayed brighter. Thereby, it is possible to make it easier for the observer to grasp the state of the cell feature amount that changes with the change of the observation time point. Not only the display brightness but also the display hue may be changed, or the display brightness and the display hue may be changed.

  In addition, the image display control unit 6b, for example, for each corresponding living cell according to the relative distance of each living cell associated by the cell tracking unit 2d between the cell feature images to be displayed in a superimposed manner. Control may be performed so that at least one of the display brightness and the display hue of the cell feature amount is different. At this time, the image display control unit 6b calculates the relative distance of the living cells between the displayed images based on the region position determined by the position characteristic of each cell region calculated by the feature amount calculation unit 2b.

  Further, the image display control unit 6b, for example, for each corresponding living cell according to the luminance sum or the amount of change in the area of each living cell associated by the cell tracking unit 2d between the images to be displayed in a superimposed manner. In addition, control may be performed so that at least one of the display luminance and the display hue of each cell feature amount is displayed differently. At this time, the image display control unit 6b changes the luminance sum or area of the corresponding live cells between the displayed images based on the luminance sum or area of each cell region calculated by the feature amount calculation unit 2b. Calculate the amount.

  Note that the image display control unit 6b may be configured to change the display luminance when each image to be displayed is a monochrome image, and may be configured to change the display hue when each image to be displayed is a color image. . In the case of a color image, the image display control unit 6b may further change the display luminance, for example, change the display hue for each living cell associated by the cell tracking unit 2d, and The display brightness may be varied for each observation time point.

  Here, processing and operations performed by the image processing apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a series of observation images input to the image processing apparatus 1, and FIG. 3 shows that the image processing apparatus 1 is input by the control unit 6 executing the image processing program. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence which processes and displays a series of observation images.

As shown in FIG. 2, the input series of observation images includes a plurality of living cells to be observed in a dark background. Each living cell changes its state by causing, for example, movement, expansion, contraction, deformation, division, and the like between observation time points t _{i-1 to} t _{i + 1} . This series of observation images is stored in the observation image storage unit 5a.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the image processing control unit 6a sequentially reads a series of observation images stored in the observation image storage unit 5a (step S101), determines whether or not luminance correction is necessary (step S103), When luminance correction is necessary (step S103: Yes), the luminance correction unit 2a sequentially acquires each observation image and performs luminance correction processing (step S105). Each observation image processed by the luminance correction unit 2a is overwritten and recorded in the observation image storage unit 5a.

  Subsequently, the feature amount calculation unit 2b calculates a cell feature amount for each observation image, assigns a label to the cell region, and performs a feature amount calculation process for generating cell feature amount data (step S107), thereby generating a feature image. The unit 2c generates a cell feature image at each observation time based on the generated cell feature data (step S109), and the cell tracking unit 2d associates live cells between the observation times (step S109). In step S111, the image display control unit 6b displays a plurality of cell feature images selected by the image selection information in a superimposed manner (step S113), and ends a series of processes.

  If the image processing control unit 6a determines in step S103 that no luminance correction is necessary (step S103: No), it immediately executes step S107. In step S113, the image processing control unit 6a displays, for example, a plurality of images corresponding to the updated image selection information every time the image selection information is updated until receiving predetermined processing end instruction information. May be repeated. In step S113, the image processing control unit 6a may display a plurality of cell feature images and these cell feature images and observation images having different observation points in a superimposed manner.

  Next, the feature amount calculation process in step S107 shown in FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the feature amount calculation processing. As shown in FIG. 4, the image processing control unit 6a reads the first image in time series among the series of observation images stored in the observation image storage unit 5a (step S121), and the feature amount calculation unit 2b An edge is detected from the read observation image (step S123). Note that the feature amount calculation 2b may perform smoothing processing using a Gaussian filter or the like on the read observation image before performing step S123 in order to remove random noise in the image.

  Subsequently, the feature amount calculation unit 2b extracts each image region surrounded by the detected edges as a cell region (step S125), and performs labeling to give a unique label to each extracted cell region (step S127). Then, various cell feature amounts are calculated for each extracted cell region (step S129). Then, the feature amount calculation unit 2b generates cell feature amount data by associating the assigned label with the calculated cell feature amount for each extracted cell region (step S131), and the image processing control unit 6a Each generated cell feature amount data is recorded in the feature amount storage unit 5c in association with the observation time point of the observation image to be processed (step S133).

  Thereafter, the image processing control unit 6a determines whether or not a series of all observed images has been processed (step S135). If all the observed images have not been processed (step S135: No), no processing has been performed. When the process from step S121 is repeated for the observed image and all the observed images are processed (step S135: Yes), the process returns to step S107.

  In step S129, the feature amount calculation unit 2b calculates the centroid position of each cell region, the outline of the cell region, the area, the circularity, and the luminance sum as the cell feature amount. Note that the feature amount calculation unit 2b regards the closed edge detected in step S123 as the outline of the cell region. In step S131, the feature amount calculation unit 2b associates the calculated cell feature amount with the label with the outline to obtain cell feature amount data.

  In step S129, the feature amount calculation unit 2b may calculate the cell nucleus centroid position of the living cell as the cell feature amount. In this case, live cells may be stained in advance using a reagent that reacts with the cell nucleus or a reagent that can enhance the contrast between the cell nucleus and other cell materials. Thereby, the edge of the cell nucleus can be detected in step S123, and an image region corresponding to the cell nucleus can be extracted as a cell region in step S125.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a cell region extracted by the feature amount calculation unit 2b for the observation image at the observation time point t _i-1 shown in FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the feature amount calculation unit 2b extracts and extracts five regions surrounded by closed edges indicated by bold lines as cell regions based on the observation image at the observation time point t _i−1 . “Label 1” to “Label 5” are assigned to each cell region. The feature amount calculation unit 2b calculates a cell feature amount for each cell region corresponding to the “label 1” to “label 5”, and generates cell feature amount data. The image processing control unit 6a records the generated cell feature data in association with the observation time point t _i-1 .

Next, step S109 shown in FIG. 3 will be described. In step S109, the feature image generation unit 2c generates a cell feature image as shown in FIGS. 6-1 and 6-2 based on the cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculation unit 2b. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating a contour image and a centroid image as cell feature images generated corresponding to the observation image at the observation time t _i-1 illustrated in FIG. In the contour image, the edge of each cell region shown in FIG. 5 is shown as a contour as it is. In the centroid image, the intersection in the cross mark indicates the centroid position of each cell region. The mark indicating the position of the center of gravity is not limited to the cross mark, and may be any mark as long as the indicated point is clear.

Next, step S111 shown in FIG. 3 will be described. In step S111, the cell tracking unit 2d calculates an evaluation value J for each cell region included in two observation images at different observation time points, and according to the calculated evaluation value J, the live tracking corresponding to each cell region is calculated. Judge cell identity. The evaluation value J is a distance δ _d between the centroids and an area difference δ for each cell region to which the labels R _{t1, m} , R _{t2, n} are given in the observation images at the observation times t ₁ , t _{2. Using a} , circularity difference δ _c , and predetermined weighting coefficients k _d , k _a , and k _c, they are defined by the following equation (1).
_{J = J (R t1, m} , R t2, n) = k d δ d + k a δ a + k c δ c ··· (1)
Here, the variables m and n have a relationship of 1 ≦ m ≦ M and 1 ≦ n ≦ N with respect to the number of cell regions M and N extracted in the observation images at the observation times t ₁ and t ₂ . Note that the evaluation value J may be calculated using any one or two terms from among the terms on the right side of Equation (1).

The cell tracking unit 2d calculates the evaluation value J for all possible combinations of the variables m and n according to the expression (1). If the calculated evaluation value J is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold value θ, the label R _{t1 , m} , R _{t2, n} are determined to be identical to the living cells in each cell region, and the label R _{t2, n} at the time t ₂ after the time t ₁ is labeled R _{t1, m.} Update to Similarly, the cell tracking unit 2d calculates an evaluation value J for each observation image other than the observation time points t ₁ and t ₂ , and uses the same living cells for which the calculated evaluation value J is equal to or less than the threshold value θ. Judge as a cell and update the label to correspond.

Next, step S113 shown in FIG. 3 will be described. In step S113, the image display control unit 6b performs control to display a plurality of images selected by the image selection information input from the display image selection unit 4b as shown in FIGS. 7-1 and 7-2. FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating display examples in which a plurality of images selected from each observation image and each cell feature image are superimposed and displayed. As illustrated in FIG. 7A, the image display control unit 6b superimposes the observation image at the observation time point t _i-1 and the contour image at the observation time point t _i and displays it as a single image. In this way, by displaying the observation image and the cell feature image at different observation points in an overlapping manner, the image display control unit 6b allows the correspondence between the observation image and the cell feature image at a different observation point. Can be easily grasped by the observer.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 7B, the image display control unit 6b superimposes the contour images at the observation times t _{i-1 to} t _{i + 1} with the image selection information and displays the images as a single image. By displaying a plurality of cell feature images at different observation points in a superimposed manner as described above, the image display control unit 6b can cause the observer to observe the temporal change of the cell feature amount at a glance. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7-2, the image display control unit 6b changes the display brightness of each cell feature image at each observation time point, and in particular, changes the display brightness stepwise according to the time series order at the observation time point. It is good to let them.

By displaying in this way, the image display control part 6b can make an observer observe the time-dependent change of a cell feature-value more easily. In the above example of FIG. 7-2, the cell feature image at the latest observation time point t _{i + 1 in} the time series is displayed brightest, and the display brightness is displayed every time the observation time point goes back to t _i and t _i−1. However, the order of the brightness corresponding to the observation time may be reversed.

In addition, instead of changing the display brightness according to the observation time point, the image display control unit 6b displays the display brightness according to the luminance sum or area change amount of the living cells associated with each image, or the relative distance. May be changed. In this case, for example, the image display control unit 6b may change the display luminance according to the display luminance value C calculated by the following equation (2) using the relative distance δ and a predetermined weighting factor kδ. Note that the display luminance can also be changed using the same relational expression in the case of corresponding to the luminance sum or the change amount of the area.
C = kδ · δ (2)

  By displaying in this way, the image display control unit 6b can allow the observer to easily observe any temporal change in either the luminance sum or area change of the living cells or the relative distance between the living cells. . In the case of a color image, the image display control unit 6b can obtain the same effect by changing the display hue instead of the display luminance.

  In FIGS. 7A and 7B, the contour image is displayed as the cell feature image. However, instead of the contour image, the centroid image or the cell nucleus centroid image is displayed in the same manner, You may make it display the time-dependent change of a cell nucleus gravity center position. Further, although FIGS. 7-1 and 7-2 show that the same type of cell feature images are displayed, a plurality of types of cell feature images may be displayed in a superimposed manner.

Note that the image display control unit 6b can also superimpose and display the observation image and the cell feature image at the same observation time if selected by the image selection information. For example, the display overlay observation time t _i-1 of the observed image and the contour image shown in Figure 8-1, the superposition of the observation time t _i-1 of the observed image and the center of gravity image as shown in Figure 8-2 Display and the like can also be performed. The image display controller 6b can also display a single observation image or cell feature image, or an image in the middle of processing at the stage of extracting the cell region as shown in FIG.

  As described above, in the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment, the feature amount calculation unit 2b calculates the cell feature amount for each observation image and assigns a label to the cell region to generate cell feature amount data. Then, the feature image generation unit 2c generates a cell feature image at each observation point based on the generated cell feature amount data, and the image display control unit 6b selects an image from each observation image and each cell feature image. Since multiple images selected by selection information at different observation time points are displayed in a superimposed manner, the temporal changes in cell feature values and the correspondence between observed images and cell feature images can be easily observed. An image can be displayed on the screen.

  In the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment, the image display control unit 6b changes the display luminance or the display hue at each observation time point. The image can be displayed so that the correspondence with the feature image can be observed more easily.

  Further, in the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment, the cell tracking unit 2d associates the living cells between the respective observation time points, and the image display control unit 6b performs the brightness of the corresponding living cells between the respective images. Since the display brightness or hue is made different according to the total or area change amount or relative distance, it is easy to change either the luminance sum or area change amount or the relative distance of living cells over time. An image can be displayed so that it can be observed.

  In the first embodiment of the present invention described above, a cell feature image for each observation time point is generated using the feature image generation unit 2c, recorded in the feature image storage unit 5b (step S109), and the display image selection unit 4b. The cell feature image or the like is displayed according to the image selection information input from (step S113). However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the cell feature image may be generated according to an instruction from the observer. This configuration will be described in Modifications 1 and 2 below. Note that, as shown in Modifications 1 and 2 below, the processing load can be reduced if only the cell feature image at the observation point instructed by the image selection information is created.

(Modification 1)
The basic configuration of the image processing apparatus 1 is as shown in FIG. However, the processing content related to the control of the feature image generation unit 2c and the image display control unit 6b by the control unit 6 is slightly different from the above-described embodiment. The display image selection unit 4b receives an instruction from the observer at the observation time point when the cell feature image is desired to be displayed, and uses this instruction as image selection information. The image processing control unit 6a instructs the feature image generation unit 2c to generate a cell feature image corresponding to the observation time pointed by the image selection information. The feature image generation unit 2c reads out the cell feature amount data corresponding to the instructed observation time from the feature amount storage unit 5c, and generates a cell feature image using the cell feature amount data. Then, the image processing control unit 6a records the cell feature image generated in association with the designated observation point in the feature image storage unit 5b. Thus, in the first modification, only the cell feature image corresponding to the observation time pointed by the image selection information is created.

  Thereafter, the image display control unit 6b uses the cell feature images recorded in the feature image storage unit 5b to observe the cell feature images at the observation time pointed by the image selection information or the cell features at the indicated observation point. The superimposed display of the image and the observation image is performed as described above (see FIGS. 7-1 and 7-2). Such superimposed display processing by the image display control unit 6b may be performed at the timing of step S113 (FIG. 3) described above, for example.

(Modification 2)
The basic configuration of the image processing apparatus 1 is as shown in FIG. However, the processing content related to the control of the feature image generation unit 2c and the image display control unit 6b by the control unit 6 is slightly different from the above-described embodiment. The display image selection unit 4b receives an instruction from the observer at the observation time point when the cell feature image is desired to be displayed, and uses this instruction as image selection information. The image processing control unit 6a instructs the feature image generation unit 2c to generate a cell feature image obtained by imaging the cell feature amount at the observation time pointed by the image selection information. In the case of the second modification, the cell feature images are not individually generated for each of the plurality of observation time points, but the cell feature amounts corresponding to the plurality of observation time points specified by the image selection information are collectively collected. A cell feature image imaged as one image is generated.

  The feature image generation unit 2c reads cell feature amount data corresponding to the observation time pointed by the image selection information from the feature amount storage unit 5c. Then, a cell feature image is generated by combining the read cell feature amounts into one image. That is, a pixel value that reflects the cell feature value at each observation time point is determined so that the cell feature value corresponding to each observation time pointed by the image selection information is displayed in a superimposed manner in a single image. Create two cell feature images. At this time, the pixel value is determined so that the cell feature value at a new observation time point is preferentially displayed for the portion where the display positions (pixel positions) of the cell feature values at different observation time points overlap each other.

  Furthermore, the display brightness is changed stepwise according to the time series order of the observation time so that the display brightness increases as the cell feature amount at the newer observation time, and the pixel value is determined so that the newer observation time is displayed brighter. . The cell feature image generated in this way is an image similar to that shown in FIG. 7-2 generated in the above-described embodiment, for example, when an outline is displayed as a cell feature amount. Thereby, it is possible to make it easier for the observer to grasp the state of the cell feature amount that changes with the change of the observation time point. Not only the display brightness but also the display hue may be changed, or the display brightness and the display hue may be changed. Then, the image processing control unit 6a records the generated cell feature image in the feature image storage unit 5b. As described above, in this example, only the cell feature amount corresponding to the observation time point indicated by the image selection information is read from the feature amount storage unit 5c, and only a single cell feature image indicating the cell feature amount at the observation time point is displayed. It is the structure which creates.

  Thereafter, the image display control unit 6b displays the cell feature image recorded in the feature image storage unit 5b. If superimposition display with the observation image is also instructed, the cell feature image generated by the feature image generation unit 2c is displayed superimposed on the observation image.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment described above, the cell feature amounts of a plurality of cell feature images selected by the image selection information at different observation points are displayed. However, in the second embodiment, the selected cell feature amount is further selected. An image area corresponding to a living cell is extracted and displayed.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the image processing apparatus 11 according to the second embodiment includes an input unit 14 and a control unit 16 instead of the input unit 4 and the control unit 6 included in the image processing apparatus 1. The input unit 14 includes a display cell selection unit 14 c in addition to the configuration of the input unit 4. The control unit 16 includes an image display control unit 16b instead of the image display control unit 6b included in the control unit 6. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals are given to the same components.

  The display cell selection unit 14c receives input of cell selection information for selecting at least one living cell among the living cells included in the observation image. The image display control unit 16b corresponds to the image region corresponding to the living cell selected by the cell selection information from the plurality of images selected by the image selection information, and the living cell selected by the cell tracking unit 2d. Control is performed to extract and display an image region corresponding to each attached live cell.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10A, for example, the image display control unit 16b selects “the cell selection information” from the observation image at the observation time point t _i-1 and the contour image at the observation time point t _i. An image area corresponding to the live cell of “Label 1” is extracted, and the extracted images are superimposed and displayed. Further, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 10B, the image display control unit 16b extracts an image region corresponding to the live cell of “label 1” from each contour image at the observation time points t _{i−1 to} t _{i + 1.} , Superimposed and displayed. Further, the image display control unit 16b may superimpose and display a centroid image or a cell nucleus centroid image instead of the contour image.

  By displaying in this way, the image display control unit 16b can display only the cell feature amount corresponding to the image region corresponding to the live cell that is observed by the observer, and the observer can perform observation more easily. Can be made. The observer can arbitrarily select a live cell of interest from the observed image and the cell feature image to be displayed by inputting the cell selection information via the display cell selection unit 14c.

  As described above, in the image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment, based on the cell selection information input from the display cell selection unit 14c, the image display control unit 16b selects the live selected by the cell selection information. Image areas corresponding to cells are extracted from each image, and cell feature values corresponding to the extracted image areas are superimposed and displayed. An image can be displayed so that the correspondence between the cell feature image and the cell feature image can be easily observed.

  In Embodiments 1 and 2 described above, a series of observation images input from the observation image input unit 4a and stored in the observation image storage unit 5a are processed. However, the observation image input unit 4a receives the observation image. The processing may be performed as appropriate every time.

  Further, the present invention provides an image processing apparatus that processes and displays a series of observation images including live cells imaged at a plurality of observation points, and the live cells are selected from the observation images in the series of observation images. A feature amount calculating means for calculating a cell feature amount indicating a feature of each detected cell image region, and imaging each cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculation means. A feature image generating means for generating a cell feature image and associating the generated cell feature image with the observation time point, and superimposing a plurality of images with different observation time points among the observation image and the cell feature image And an image display control means for performing display control.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the observation image input into the image processing apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure performed by the image processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the feature calculation process shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the cell area | region extracted from an observation image. It is a figure which shows an example of the cell characteristic image produced | generated from an observation image. It is a figure which shows an example of the cell characteristic image produced | generated from an observation image. It is a figure which shows an example of the image displayed by superimposing with the image processing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the image displayed by superimposing with the image processing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows another example of the image displayed by overlapping by the image processing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows another example of the image displayed by overlapping by the image processing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image processing apparatus concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed in a superimposed manner by the image processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 9. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed in a superimposed manner by the image processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 9.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,11 Image processing apparatus 2 Image processing part 2a Luminance correction | amendment part 2b Feature-value calculation part 2c Feature image generation part 2d Cell tracking part 3 Display part 4,14 Input part 4a Observation image input part 4b Display image selection part 5 Storage part 5a Observation image storage unit 5b Feature image storage unit 5c Feature quantity storage unit 6 Control unit 6a Image processing control unit 6b, 16b Image display control unit 14c Display cell selection unit

Claims (26)

In an image processing apparatus that processes and displays a series of observation images including live cells imaged at a plurality of observation points,
A feature amount calculating means for detecting a cell image region corresponding to the living cell from each observation image in the series of observation images, and calculating a cell feature amount indicating a feature of each detected cell image region;
Feature quantity storage means for storing the cell feature quantity calculated by the feature quantity calculation means in association with the observation time point;
Image display control means for performing control for imaging and displaying the cell feature amounts corresponding to different observation time points as a single display image;
An image processing apparatus comprising: A feature image generating unit that generates a cell feature image obtained by imaging the cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculating unit at each observation time point;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image display control unit performs control to superimpose the cell feature images at different observation points and display them as the single display image. In an image processing apparatus that processes and displays a series of observation images including live cells imaged at a plurality of observation points,
A feature amount calculating means for detecting a cell image region corresponding to the living cell from each observation image in the series of observation images, and calculating a cell feature amount indicating a feature of each detected cell image region;
Feature quantity storage means for storing the cell feature quantity calculated by the feature quantity calculation means in association with the observation time point;
An image display control means for performing control for imaging and displaying the observation image captured at a certain observation time point and the cell feature amount corresponding to the observation time point different from the observation image as a single display image;
An image processing apparatus comprising:   The image display control means displays the observation image captured at a certain observation time point and the cell feature quantity corresponding to each of two or more observation time points different from the observation image as the single display image. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein control is performed. A feature image generating unit that generates a cell feature image obtained by imaging the cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculating unit at each observation time point;
The image display control unit displays the observation image captured at a certain observation time point and the cell feature image at an observation time point at least one time point different from the observation image, as a single display image. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein control is performed.   The said image display control means performs control which displays the said cell feature-value as said single display image, attaching the distinction according to the said observation time point. The image processing apparatus described.   The image display control means performs control to display the cell feature amount as the single display image by changing at least one of a display luminance value and a display hue at each observation time point. An image processing apparatus according to 1.   The image display control means displays the cell feature amount as the single display image by stepwise changing at least one of a display luminance value and a display hue for each observation time point according to the time series order of the observation time points. The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein control is performed. A change amount of the cell feature amount between observation images with different observation time points is calculated, and based on the calculated change amount, whether the living cells included in the observation images with different observation time points are identical An association means for associating each living cell that is judged to be identical or not,
The feature amount calculating means calculates at least a region position of the cell image region as a cell feature amount,
The image display control unit calculates a relative distance of each living cell associated by the association unit based on the region position of each cell image region in the single display image, and calculates The control for displaying the cell feature amount as the single display image by changing at least one of a display luminance value and a display hue according to a relative distance is performed. An image processing apparatus according to 1. A change amount of the cell feature amount between observation images with different observation time points is calculated, and based on the calculated change amount, whether the living cells included in the observation images with different observation time points are identical An association means for associating each living cell that is judged to be identical or not,
The feature amount calculating means calculates at least the luminance sum or area of the cell image region as a cell feature amount,
The image display control means calculates a change amount of the luminance sum or area between each living cell associated by the association means based on the luminance sum or area of each cell image region, 6. The control for displaying the cell feature amount as the single display image by changing at least one of a display luminance value and a display hue according to the changed amount is performed. The image processing apparatus described in one. Comprising selection information input means for receiving selection information for selecting the living cells;
The said image display control means performs control which extracts and displays the image area | region corresponding to the living cell selected by the said selection information from the said single display image. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the above. The feature amount calculating means calculates a position characteristic indicating a feature of the position or shape of the living cell as a cell feature amount,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the feature image generation unit images the position characteristic calculated by the feature amount calculation unit as the single display image. .   The image processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the position characteristic is at least one of a contour, a centroid position, and a cell nucleus centroid position of the living cell.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a luminance correction unit configured to correct a luminance value of each observation image. An image processing program for processing and displaying the observation image on an image processing device that processes and displays a series of observation images including live cells imaged at a plurality of observation points,
In the image processing apparatus,
A feature amount calculation procedure for detecting a cell image region corresponding to the living cell from each observation image in the series of observation images, and calculating a cell feature amount indicating a feature of each detected cell image region;
A feature amount storage procedure for storing the cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculation procedure in association with the observation time point;
Image display control procedure for performing control to image and display the cell feature amounts corresponding to different observation time points as a single display image;
An image processing program for executing A feature image generation procedure for generating a cell feature image obtained by imaging the cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculation unit at each observation time point; and
The image processing program according to claim 15, wherein the image display control procedure performs a control to superimpose the cell feature images at different observation points and display them as the single display image. An image processing program for processing and displaying the observation image on an image processing device that processes and displays a series of observation images including live cells imaged at a plurality of observation points,
In the image processing apparatus,
A feature amount calculation procedure for detecting a cell image region corresponding to the living cell from each observation image in the series of observation images, and calculating a cell feature amount indicating a feature of each detected cell image region;
A feature amount storage procedure for storing the cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculation procedure in association with the observation time point;
An image display control procedure for performing control for imaging and displaying the observation image captured at a certain observation time point and the cell feature amount corresponding to the observation time point different from the observation image as a single display image;
An image processing program for executing   The image display control procedure displays the observation image captured at a certain observation time point and the cell feature amount corresponding to each of two or more observation time points different from the observation image as the single display image. The image processing program according to claim 17, wherein control is performed. A feature image generation procedure for generating a cell feature image obtained by imaging the cell feature amount calculated by the feature amount calculation procedure at each observation time point;
In the image display control procedure, the observation image captured at a certain observation time point and the cell feature image at an observation time point at least one time point different from the observation image are superimposed and displayed as the single display image. The image processing program according to claim 17, wherein control is performed.   The image display control procedure performs control to display the cell feature amount as the single display image with a distinction according to the observation time point. The image processing program described.   The image display control procedure performs control for displaying the cell feature amount as the single display image by changing at least one of a display luminance value and a display hue at each observation time point. The image processing program described in 1.   In the image display control procedure, at least one of a display luminance value and a display hue is changed stepwise for each observation time according to the time series order of the observation time, and the cell feature is displayed as the single display image. The image processing program according to claim 21, wherein control is performed. A change amount of the cell feature amount between observation images with different observation time points is calculated, and based on the calculated change amount, whether the living cells included in the observation images with different observation time points are identical Determine whether or not, and execute an association procedure for associating each living cell determined to be identical,
The feature amount calculation procedure calculates at least a region position of the cell image region as a cell feature amount,
The image display control procedure calculates a relative distance of each living cell associated by the association procedure based on the region position of each cell image region in the single display image, The control for displaying the cell feature amount as the single display image by changing at least one of a display luminance value and a display hue according to a relative distance is performed. The image processing program described in 1. A change amount of the cell feature amount between observation images with different observation time points is calculated, and based on the calculated change amount, whether the living cells included in the observation images with different observation time points are identical Determine whether or not, and execute an association procedure for associating each living cell determined to be identical,
The feature amount calculation procedure calculates at least the luminance sum or area of the cell image region as a cell feature amount,
The image display control procedure calculates, based on the luminance sum or area of each cell image region, the amount of change in the luminance sum or area between the living cells associated by the association procedure, and the calculation 20. The control for displaying the cell feature amount as the single display image by changing at least one of a display luminance value and a display hue according to the changed amount is performed. The image processing program described in 1. Executing a selection information input procedure for receiving selection information for selecting the living cells;
25. The image display control procedure performs control for extracting and displaying an image region corresponding to a living cell selected by the selection information from the single display image. The image processing program according to any one of the above. The feature amount calculation procedure calculates a position characteristic indicating a feature of the position or shape of the living cell as a cell feature amount,
The image processing program according to any one of claims 15 to 25, wherein in the feature image generation procedure, the position characteristic calculated by the feature amount calculation procedure is imaged as the single display image. .

Images