WO1998005794A1 - Device for forming an image of a transparent container - Google Patents
Device for forming an image of a transparent container Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO1998005794A1 WO1998005794A1 PCT/BE1996/000080 BE9600080W WO9805794A1 WO 1998005794 A1 WO1998005794 A1 WO 1998005794A1 BE 9600080 W BE9600080 W BE 9600080W WO 9805794 A1 WO9805794 A1 WO 9805794A1
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- image
- container
- forming means
- image forming
- light beam
- Prior art date
Links
Classifications
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
- C12Q—MEASURING OR TESTING PROCESSES INVOLVING ENZYMES, NUCLEIC ACIDS OR MICROORGANISMS; COMPOSITIONS OR TEST PAPERS THEREFOR; PROCESSES OF PREPARING SUCH COMPOSITIONS; CONDITION-RESPONSIVE CONTROL IN MICROBIOLOGICAL OR ENZYMOLOGICAL PROCESSES
- C12Q1/00—Measuring or testing processes involving enzymes, nucleic acids or microorganisms; Compositions therefor; Processes of preparing such compositions
- C12Q1/02—Measuring or testing processes involving enzymes, nucleic acids or microorganisms; Compositions therefor; Processes of preparing such compositions involving viable microorganisms
- C12Q1/18—Testing for antimicrobial activity of a material
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a device for forming an image of a content of a transparent container, in particular a Petri dish, which container is provided for carrying at least one pharmaceutical tablet in a contaminated medium, said device comprising a carrier for carrying said container, a first light source provided for emitting a first light beam towards said container and image forming means for forming a first image of said content.
- Such a device is known and for example commercialised by Sanofi Diagnostics Pasteur.
- a high resolution camera is used as image forming means for forming said first image of the content of the container, and the first light source is provided at the same side of the carrier, in particular adjacent to said camera.
- the image is formed on the basis of the first light beam which is at least partially reflected by the container.
- an image is formed of the content of the container.
- This image is further digitised by a computer, connected to said image forming means, and from such a digitised image, an inhibition zone, formed by the reaction of each of the pharmaceutical tablets with the contaminated medium and being essentially circular-shaped, is determined and further processed by the computer.
- a problem with the known devices is that the formed image does not always clearly represent the inhibition zone(s), in particular the contour of the inhibition zone(s), so that the area of each inhibition zone can not be very accurately determined.
- the invention has therefore as object to provide an apparatus which enables to form an image on which the contour of the inhibition zone(s) is more accurately formed.
- the apparatus according to the invention is characterised in that said first light source and said image forming means are situated at opposite sides of said carrier, and that said carrier is provided for letting said first light beam through it in order to reach at least partially said image forming means.
- inhibition zone(s) is (are) relatively more transparent than the contaminated medium, which in turn is more transparent than the pharmaceutical tablet(s), light will pass more easily through inhibition zone(s) than through the contaminated medium, and in its turn more easily than through the pharmaceutical tablet(s). Consequently, such an image made by transparency technique represents more accurately the contour of the inhibition zone(s). In this way, the area of each inhibition zone can better be determined and further processed.
- the device according to the invention comprises a second light source, situated at the same side of said carrier than said image forming means, said second light source being provided for emitting a second light beam towards said container and said image forming means being further provided for forming a second image of said content on the basis of said second light beam at least partially reflected by said content.
- the device comprises means for determining pixels in said first, respectively said second image, appertaining to said pharmaceutical tablet(s) and substitution means for substituting said pixels in said first image appertaining to said pharmaceutical tablet by said pixels in said second image appertaining to said pharmaceutical tablet.
- substitution means for substituting said pixels in said first image appertaining to said pharmaceutical tablet by said pixels in said second image appertaining to said pharmaceutical tablet.
- Figure 1 is a plan view of the content of a Petri dish with seven pharmaceutical tablets in a contaminated medium, which illustrates a first image formed by a first light beam passing at least partially through the Petri dish towards image forming means;
- Figure 2 is a vertical side sectional view of an embodiment of the device according to the invention.
- Figure 3 is a sectional view according to line Ill-Ill of Figure 2.
- Figure 4 is a sectional view according to line IV-IV of
- Figure 5 is a sectional view according to line V-V of Figure 4, illustrating the illumination of the second light source where a pharmaceutical tablet is situated;
- Figure 6 is a sectional view according to line VI-VI of
- Figure 7 is a sectional view according to line VII-VII of Figure 4, illustrating the illumination of the second light source where a inhibition zone is situated; and
- Figure 8 is a plan view of the content of the Petri dish according to Figure 1 , which illustrates a second image formed by a second light beam at least partially reflected by the Petri dish and directed towards image forming means.
- the device according to the invention is provided for forming an image of a content of a transparent container 1 , for example a Petri dish.
- the container 1 comprises a contaminated medium 2, for example a medium comprising staphylococcus, and several pharmaceutical tablets 11-18, in particular antibiotic tablets such as Ampicillin. Each tablet is distinguishable for example by its colour or a mark applied on the upper surface of the tablet, for example (an) identification letter(s) ( Figure 8).
- the device comprises a carrier 23 for carrying the container 1.
- said carrier is formed by a front plate 25 and a slidable tray provided with a glass plate 24, onto which the container 1 can be placed.
- said carrier is formed by a front plate and a tray provided with a plate having an opening onto which plate the container can be placed, whereby the area of the opening is slightly smaller than the area of the container 1 to be placed. In this way, the container 1 to be placed fits exactly on the carrier, whereby the opening is provided for letting a light beam passing through it.
- said carrier comprises a fixed tray provided with a glass plate. The embodiments with the glass plate have the advantage, comparing to the embodiment with the plate having an opening, that the carrier is provided for carrying containers with a relatively wider range of dimensions.
- the device further comprises a first light source 20 provided for emitting a first light beam (i.e. i 1T , iic and in), see Figure 4, towards said container 1 and image forming means 21 for forming a first image of the content of the container 1.
- the image forming means 21 are for example formed by at least one sensor or a CCD camera. According to the invention, the first light source 20 and the image forming means 21 are situated at opposite sides of the carrier 23.
- the device further comprises data processing means such as a PC, provided for being connected to the image forming means and programmed for processing the data of the formed image.
- the device comprises a second light source 22, situated at the same side of the carrier 23 than the image forming means 21 , in particular adjacent to said image forming means.
- the second light source 22 is provided for emitting a second light beam i 2 (i.e. i 2T , i 2 c and i 2 ⁇ ), see Figures 5-7, towards the container 1.
- the image forming means 21 are further provided for forming a second image of the content of the container 1 on the basis of the second light beam i 2 at least partially reflected by said content.
- the second light source preferably emits a light beam which does not deform colours so that the formed second image clearly represents the colours of the content of the container.
- the device is enclosed in a closed box 26, so that the influence of external or ambient light is minimised.
- a closed box 26 Preferably, the device is enclosed in a closed box 26, so that the influence of external or ambient light is minimised.
- the first light source 20 emits, in a first step, a first light beam h towards the container 1.
- a first light beam h As represented in Figure 4, three different sectors can be distinguished : sector T is a sector where a pharmaceutical tablet (indicated by 11-18 in Figures 1 and 8) is situated, sector C is a sector where the contaminated medium (indicated by 2 in Figure 1 ) is situated and sector I is a sector where an inhibition zone (indicated by 3-10 in Figure 1 ) is situated.
- a first light beam i 1T emitted in a sector T will be reflected r ⁇ by the pharmaceutical tablet 13, since the pharmaceutical tablet is not transparent. In this sector, dark pixels will be formed on the image forming means.
- a first light beam i c emitted in sector C will essentially pass through the contaminated medium and be transmitted tic to the image forming means, since the contaminated medium is essentially transparent.
- a first light beam in emitted in sector I will essentially pass through an inhibition zone and be transmitted tn to the image forming means, since the inhibition zone is essentially transparent.
- the image will consequently be clearly represented. Since an inhibition zone is more transparent than the contaminated medium, a small amount of the light beam i ⁇ c in sector C will be reflected r 1C) whereas a negligible amount of the light beam i 1t in sector I will be reflected.
- the amount of light transmitted towards the image forming means 21 is represented by the longer dots of dotted line tn compared to the dots of dotted line t ⁇ C .
- the carrier slides from a first position, wherein a first extremity 27 of the container 1 is illuminated, towards a second position, wherein a second extremity 28 opposite to said first extremity of the container 1 is illuminated (Fig. 3).
- the results of the formed first image is illustrated in Figure 1. Since the main portion of the first light beam passes through the areas of the contaminated medium and the inhibition zone(s), these areas are clearly represented. Since the inhibition zone(s) is (are) more transparent than the contaminated medium, the contour of the inhibition zone(s) can clearly be distinguished.
- the container could be provided with an identification label, such as for example a bar-code 19, in such a manner that when forming said first image, the identification label is also represented, so that formed images of different containers can easily be distinguished from each other.
- the second light source 22 emits, in a second step, a second light beam i 2 towards the container 1.
- a second light beam i 2T emitted in a sector T ( Figure 5) will be essentially reflected r 2 ⁇ by the pharmaceutical tablet 17 towards the image forming means 21 , since the pharmaceutical tablet is not transparent. Consequently a clear image of the pharmaceutical tablet will be formed on the image forming means.
- a second light beam i 2C emitted in sector C ( Figure 6) will essentially pass through the contaminated medium and be transmitted t 2C , since the contaminated medium is essentially transparent.
- a second light beam i 2 emitted in sector I ( Figure 7) will essentially pass through an inhibition zone and be transmitted t 2 ⁇ , since the inhibition zone is essentially transparent.
- dark pixels will consequently be formed on the image forming means.
- an inhibition zone is more transparent than the contaminated medium, a small amount of the light beam i 2c in sector C will be reflected r 2C , whereas a negligible amount of the light beam i 2 ⁇ in sector I will be reflected. Consequently the formed image of the inhibition zone will be darker than the formed image of the contaminated medium.
- the carrier slides, such as in the first step, from a first position, wherein a first extremity 27 (Fig. 3) of the container 1 is illuminated, towards a second position, wherein a second extremity 28 (Fig. 3) opposite to said first extremity of the container 1 is illuminated.
- the results of the formed second image is illustrated in Figure 8. Since the main portion of the second light beam reaching the pharmaceutical tablet(s) is reflected by these tablets, these tablets are clearly represented, whereas both the inhibition zones and the contaminated medium are less clearly represented compared to Figure 1.
- the pharmaceutical tablets can be distinguished from each other by their different marks such as for example identification letter(s) : APN (Ampicillin), AMX (Amoxycillin), TMN (Temocillin), CPS (Cephalospo ⁇ ns of the first generation), CRX (Cefuroxime), CTX (Cefotaxime), CAZ (Ceftazidime) and TM (Tobramycim).
- identification letter(s) APN (Ampicillin), AMX (Amoxycillin), TMN (Temocillin), CPS (Cephalospo ⁇ ns of the first generation), CRX (Cefuroxime), CTX (Cefotaxime), CAZ (Ceftazid
- the carrier is slidably mounted in said device and the light sources 20, 22 and the image forming means 21 are fixed on said device.
- said carrier is fixed and said light source(s) and said image forming means are slidably mounted in said device. If use is made of a CCD camera or (a) large sensor(s), neither the light source(s) and the camera, nor the carrier must be slidably mounted.
- the advantage of the slidable arrangement is that the distance between the first light source and the image forming means, on the one hand, and between the container and the image forming means, on the other hand, can be relatively small, so that the device according to the invention can be made relatively compact.
- the device according to the invention is dimensioned in such a manner that it fits in a standard tower of a PC, so that it can be integrated in a PC.
- the device comprises data processing means, for example in the PC, for determining, in a further step, the location of the pixels in the first image appertaining to the pharmaceutical tablet(s). These pixels can easily be detected since they are darker than the pixels pertaining to the contaminated medium and the inhibition zone(s). Corresponding pixels, having the same location, are determined in the second image and retrieved therefrom. Substitution means are provided for substituting said pixels appertaining to said pharmaceutical(s) tablet in said first image by said retrieved corresponding pixels in said second image. In this way a third image is formed whereby both the inhibition zone(s) and the pharmaceutical tablet(s) are accurately formed.
- the device according to the invention enables to determine accurately the areas of the inhibition zone(s) and to provide in this way a more accurate analysis of the effect of the pharmaceutical tablet(s) in a contaminated medium.
- the second light source is not absolutely necessary. Indeed, from the formed first image, the contour of the inhibition zone(s) can be determined.
- the pharmaceutical tablet(s) can not be distinguished from one another by their different colour of identification letter(s), but can be distinguished by their relative position to one another.
- a marking is preferably provided on the container, so that each pharmaceutical tablet can be distinguished from another one by its relative position with respect to the marking.
- An essential feature of the invention is consequently that use is made of the described arrangement of the first light source and image forming means, known as transparency technique, for forming an image of a content of a container comprising at least one pharmaceutical tablet in a contaminated medium.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
AU66516/96A AU6651696A (en) | 1996-07-31 | 1996-07-31 | Device for forming an image of a transparent container |
EP96926274A EP0925371A1 (en) | 1996-07-31 | 1996-07-31 | Device for forming an image of a transparent container |
PCT/BE1996/000080 WO1998005794A1 (en) | 1996-07-31 | 1996-07-31 | Device for forming an image of a transparent container |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/BE1996/000080 WO1998005794A1 (en) | 1996-07-31 | 1996-07-31 | Device for forming an image of a transparent container |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO1998005794A1 true WO1998005794A1 (en) | 1998-02-12 |
Family
ID=3889502
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/BE1996/000080 WO1998005794A1 (en) | 1996-07-31 | 1996-07-31 | Device for forming an image of a transparent container |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0925371A1 (en) |
AU (1) | AU6651696A (en) |
WO (1) | WO1998005794A1 (en) |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
FR2786498A1 (en) * | 1998-11-27 | 2000-06-02 | Intelligence Artificielle Appl | APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY READING AN ANTIBIOGRAM |
EP2270514A1 (en) * | 2009-07-03 | 2011-01-05 | VidimSoft bvba | Method for storing and tracing of manual blood typing analyses |
Citations (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO1996012036A1 (en) * | 1994-10-17 | 1996-04-25 | The Analytic Sciences Corporation | Automated system and method for estimating antibiotic effectiveness from drug diffusion tests |
-
1996
- 1996-07-31 WO PCT/BE1996/000080 patent/WO1998005794A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1996-07-31 EP EP96926274A patent/EP0925371A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1996-07-31 AU AU66516/96A patent/AU6651696A/en not_active Abandoned
Patent Citations (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO1996012036A1 (en) * | 1994-10-17 | 1996-04-25 | The Analytic Sciences Corporation | Automated system and method for estimating antibiotic effectiveness from drug diffusion tests |
Non-Patent Citations (3)
Title |
---|
A.J. HENK: "A new approach to overlay in monochrome television", JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION ENGINEERS, vol. 78, no. 10, October 1969 (1969-10-01), SCARSDALE US, pages 861 - 866, XP002028802 * |
G. HEJBLUM ET AL: "Automated interpretation of disk diffusion antibiotic susceptibility tests with the radial profile analysis algorithm", JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY, vol. 31, no. 9, September 1993 (1993-09-01), pages 2396 - 2401, XP000646843 * |
L. CLONTZ: "Image analysis application to agar diffusion assays", AMERICAN CLINICAL LABORATORY, August 1992 (1992-08-01), pages 10 - 11, XP000646916 * |
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
FR2786498A1 (en) * | 1998-11-27 | 2000-06-02 | Intelligence Artificielle Appl | APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY READING AN ANTIBIOGRAM |
WO2000032807A1 (en) * | 1998-11-27 | 2000-06-08 | Intelligence Artificielle Applications Sarl | Apparatus for automatic reading of an antibiogram |
EP2270514A1 (en) * | 2009-07-03 | 2011-01-05 | VidimSoft bvba | Method for storing and tracing of manual blood typing analyses |
WO2011000944A1 (en) * | 2009-07-03 | 2011-01-06 | Vidimsoft Bvba | Method for storing and tracing of manual blood typing analyses |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP0925371A1 (en) | 1999-06-30 |
AU6651696A (en) | 1998-02-25 |
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