Patent Application
20090191585
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cell image processing apparatus, a cell image displaying system and a cell image displaying method for processing a cell image obtained by imaging a sample smeared on a slide glass.
2. Description of the Background Art
A blood image analyzing system for observing a white blood cell in a blood specimen smeared on a slide glass is known in general, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0077550, for example. This U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0077550 discloses a blood image analyzing system capable of imaging a blood specimen smeared on a specimen plate (slide glass) to obtain a cell image including a white blood cell and other blood cells and displaying the cell image on a display. Further, an automatic blood cell analyzer (HEG-50S manufactured by Sysmex Corporation) capable of taking an image for monitoring white blood cell for observing a white blood cell in a blood specimen and an image for monitoring red blood cell for observing a red blood cell in the blood specimen is known. This automatic blood cell analyzer is so formed as to take the image for monitoring white blood cell and the image for monitoring red blood cell separately.
In a testing industry where the sample smeared on the slide glass is imaged to be analyzed, there is a demand for observing not only the white blood cell in the sample but also the red cell in the sample.
In the blood image analyzing system described in the aforementioned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0077550, however, it is difficult to monitor both of the white blood cell and the red blood cell employing the cell image including the white blood cell and a large number of other blood cells displayed on the display.
In the aforementioned automatic blood cell analyzer (HEG-50S), the image for monitoring white blood cell and the image for monitoring red blood cell are separately taken, and hence both of a time required for taking the image for monitoring white blood cell and a time required for taking the image for monitoring red blood cell are needed. Consequently, image processing of one blood specimen requires a long time.
A cell image processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises: a large area image obtainer for obtaining a large area image which is obtained by imaging an area in a sample smeared on a slide glass, the area including a white blood cell and a plurality of red blood cells surrounding the white blood cell; a processing part for obtaining a portion image including the white blood cell from the large area image; and a memory for storing the portion image as an image for monitoring white blood cell and storing the large area image as an image for monitoring red blood cell.
A cell image displaying system according to a second aspect of the present invention comprises: a cell image processing apparatus for outputting a cell image obtained by imaging a cell in a sample smeared on a slide glass; and a monitor terminal connected to the cell image processing apparatus through a network, wherein the cell image processing apparatus comprises: a large area image obtainer for obtaining a large area image which is obtained by imaging an area in the sample smeared on the slide glass, the area including a white blood cell and a plurality of red blood cells surrounding the white blood cell; a processing part for obtaining a portion image including the white blood cell from the large area image; and a transmitter for transmitting the large area image and the portion image to the monitor terminal, and wherein the monitor terminal comprises: a display section; a receiver for receiving the large area image and the portion image transmitted from the transmitter; and a controller for controlling the display section so as to display the large area image received by the receiver as an image for monitoring red blood cell and display the portion image received by the receiver as an image for monitoring white blood cell.
A cell image displaying method according to a third aspect of the present invention comprises steps of: detecting a white blood cell in a sample smeared on a slide glass; obtaining a large area image including the detected white blood cell and a plurality of red blood cells surrounding the white blood cell; obtaining a portion image including the white blood cell from the large area image; displaying the portion image as an image for monitoring white blood cell; and displaying the large area image as an image for monitoring red blood cell.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
An embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described with reference to the drawings.
The structure of a blood cell image processing system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be now described with reference to
The blood cell image processing system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention comprises a specimen preparing apparatus 2, a cooperative unit 3, an automatic analyzer 4, a review terminal 5 (see
The specimen preparing apparatus 2 is provided for preparing a blood smear specimen by smearing blood on a slide glass 100 (see
The cooperative unit 3 is provided for receiving the slide glass 100 smeared with the blood from the specimen preparing apparatus 2 to feed the slide glass 100 into an automatic microscope 10, described later, of the automatic analyzer 4.
The automatic analyzer 4 includes an automatic microscope 10 and an image processing section 30 as shown in
The objective lens 11 is enabled to enlarge/reduce an image of blood smeared on the slide glass 100 by being moved in a vertical direction by the focus drive circuit 13. As shown in
The lamp 17 is arranged on a side opposite to the objective lens 11 (below the slide glass 100) with respect to the slide glass 100 transported to the prescribed position opposed to the objective lens 11. The lamp 17 emits light from below the slide glass 100 toward the objective lens 11 (above) so that the light is transmitted through the blood specimen smeared on the slide glass 100. The three half mirrors 18 are arranged on an optical path of the light emitted from the lamp 17. The automatic focusing sensor 19 and the white blood cell (WBC) detecting sensor 20 are line sensors and formed so as to detect light through the half mirrors 18. The CCD camera 21 is so formed as to continue to take images of the blood specimen together with the light received from the lamp 17 through the half mirrors 18 and to transmit the taken images to the image processing section 30 during slide scanning/white blood cell detecting processing described later. The white blood cell (WBC) detecting section 22 is so formed as to detect a white blood cell (WBC) on the basis of the light detected by the white blood cell (WBC) detecting sensor 20. The automatic focus 23 is so formed as to operate an automatic focusing function on the basis of the light detected by the automatic focusing sensor 19. The ID reading section 24 has a function of reading a slide ID from a bar code (not shown) stuck on the slide glass 100 taken out from the slide cassette (not shown). The slide ID is unique identification information allocated to correspond to a sample smeared on each slide glass 100 on one-on-one basis.
The automatic microscope control section 25 is so formed as to control each section of the automatic microscope 10. Further, the automatic microscope control section 25 includes a CPU 251, a ROM 252, a RAM 253 and an I/O interface 254, as shown in
The network board 26 is so formed as to be compatible with 100Base-TX of Ethernet (registered trademark), for example, and can transmit/receive data of apparatus administrative communication to/from the network board 40 of the image processing section 30.
The image processing section 30 has a function of capturing the image taken by the automatic microscope 10 and a function of analyzing the captured image and automatically classifying cells. As hereinabove described, the CCD camera 21 continues to transmit the images of the blood specimen to the image processing section 30 during slide scanning/white blood cell detecting processing described later, and the image processing section 30 is so formed as to capture the image taken by the automatic microscope 10 when receiving the image-capturing signal from the automatic microscope 10. The image processing section 30 includes an image preprocessing board 31, a CPU 32, a ROM 33, a RAM 34, a hard disk 35, a display section 36, and a keyboard 37 and a mouse 38 as input devices. The image processing section 30 is connected to the host computer 6 and the review terminal 5 through the communication interface 39 and connected to the automatic microscope 10 through the network board 40.
The image preprocessing board 31 has a function of receiving an image signal of the image taken by the CCD camera 21 of the automatic microscope 10 and performing preprocessing, such as color correction or gamma correction (processing for correcting color saturation or brightness of an image), on the received image signal.
The CPU 32 can run computer programs stored in the ROM 33 and the hard disk 35 and computer programs loaded in the RAM 34. The CPU 32 is so formed as to capture an area including a white blood cell and a plurality of red blood cells surrounding the white blood cell imaged by the CCD camera 21 as a large area image through the image preprocessing board 31 when receiving the image-capturing signal from the automatic microscope 10.
The ROM 33 is constituted by a mask ROM, a PROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM or the like, and the computer programs run by the CPU 32 and data employed therefor are recorded therein.
The RAM 34 is constituted by a SPRAM, a DRAM, or the like. The RAM 34 is employed for reading the computer programs recorded in the ROM 33 and the hard disk 35. Further, the RAM 34 is utilized as a working area of the CPU 32 when running these computer programs.
An operating system and various computer programs such as application programs to be run by the CPU 32 as well as data employed for running the computer programs are installed in the hard disk 35. A control program for capturing the image taken by the automatic microscope 10 and analyzing the captured image to automatically classify the cell is also installed in this hard disk 35. A large area image database for storing the large area image obtained by the CPU 32, a portion image database for storing the portion image obtained by the CPU 32, a blood cell type database for storing information on the blood cell types of the white blood cells classified by the CPU 32, a review information database for storing review information on white blood cells and red blood cells input by an user in the review terminal 5 and a list displaying database for storing various information displayed on a sample information list screen 551 (see
Further, an operating system such as Windows (registered trademark) manufactured and sold by Microsoft, U.S.A., for example, providing graphical user interface environment is installed in the hard disk 35.
The display section 36 is enabled to display an order set screen 361 (see
The review terminal 5 is provided for checking the results of automatic classification of the blood cell types of the white blood cells by the image processing section 30 or manually classify the blood cell image, the type of which can not be determined by the automatic classification. Also when a plurality of the image processing sections 30 are provided, the review terminal 5 can review data of each image processing section 30 through a network such as a LAN. The review terminal 5 is constituted by a personal computer (PC) or the like, and includes a CPU 51, a ROM 52, a RAM 53, a hard disk 54, a display section 55, a keyboard 56 and a mouse 57 as an input device and a communication interface 58, as shown in
The CPU 51 can run computer programs stored in the ROM 52 and computer programs loaded in the RAM 53.
The ROM 52 is constituted by a mask ROM, a PROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM or the like, and the computer programs run by the CPU 51 and data employed therefor are recorded therein.
The RAM 53 is constituted by an SRAM or a DRAM. The RAM 53 is employed for reading the computer programs recorded in the ROM 52 and the hard disk 54. Further, the RAM 53 is utilized as a working area of the CPU 51 when running these computer programs.
An operating system and various computer programs such as application programs to be run by the CPU 51 as well as data employed for running the computer programs are installed in the hard disk 54. A control program for checking the results of automatic classification of the blood cell types of the white blood cells is also installed in this hard disk 54.
Further, an operating system such as Windows (registered trademark) manufactured and sold by Microsoft, U.S.A., for example, providing graphical user interface environment is installed in the hard disk 54.
The display section 55 is enabled to display a white blood cell review screen 552 (see
The communication interface 58 is Ethernet (registered trademark) interface, for example. The review terminal 5 can transmit/receive data to/from the host computer 6 and the image processing section 30 by this communication interface 58 with a prescribed communication protocol.
The host computer 6 has a function of transmitting information of the sample corresponding to the slide ID to the image processing section 30 in response to a demand from the image processing section 30. The host computer 6 is so formed as to receive information on the check of the results of automatic classification performed in the review terminal 5 by the user and information on the results of manual classification by the user and store the same.
Respective operations of the automatic microscope 10, the image processing section 30 and the review terminal 5 of the blood cell image processing system 1 according to this embodiment will be now described with reference to
In the automatic microscope 10, the CPU 251 of the automatic microscope control section 25 first initializes a computer program at a step S1 shown in
First, an imaging area is determined for obtaining an optimum scanning start position at a step S61 in
Thereafter the white blood cell is detected in the determined imaging area at a step S62. The white blood cell (WBC) detecting section 22 detects the white blood cell on the basis of light detected by the sensor 20 employed as the line sensor. More specifically, the stage drive circuit 12 moves the slide glass 100 along arrow X and arrow Y, so that the sensor 20 scans the imaging area in a zigzag, as shown in
When the white blood cell (WBC) detecting section 22 detects the white blood cell, the CPU 251 transmits an image-capturing signal to the image processing section 30 at a step S63. Thereafter the CPU 251 determines whether or not an end signal, described later, transmitted from the image processing section 30 has been received at a step S64. When the end signal has not been received, the process advances to the step S62 and an operation of the detecting a new blood cell is performed. When the end signal has been received, the operation of the slide scanning/white blood cell detecting processing ends. When the slide scanning/white blood cell detecting processing is ended, the imaging/image transmitting operation by the CCD camera 21 is stopped.
After the aforementioned slide scanning/white blood cell detecting processing at the step S6 ends, the CPU 251 determines whether or not a shutdown instruction from the user has been made at a step S7 shown in
In the image processing section 30, the CPU 32 initializes a computer program at a step S11 and displays an initial screen (not shown) on the display section 36 at a step S12. Then it is determined whether or not the information of the slide ID transmitted from the automatic microscope 10 has been received through the network board 40 at a step S13. When the information of the slide ID has not been received, the process advances to a step S17. When the information of the slide ID has been received, a signal requiring sample information corresponding to the received slide ID is transmitted to the host computer 6 at a step S14, and the CPU 32 determines whether or not the sample information transmitted from the host computer 6 has been received at a step S15. This determination is repeated until the sample information is received, when the sample information has not been received. When the sample information has been received, image capturing/classifying processing is performed at a step S16. The image capturing/classifying processing by the image processing section 30 will be now described with reference to
At a step S161 shown in
According to this embodiment, the CPU 32 determines whether or not the number of large area images stored in the large area image database of the hard disk 35 is smaller than 24 at a step S168. When the number of large area images is smaller than 24, the large area image captured through the image preprocessing board 31 is stored in the large area image database of the hard disk 35 at a step S169. When the number of large area images is 24 or more, the process advances to a step S170 without storing the large area image. Thus, it is possible not to needlessly store the large area images for red blood cell, the number of which required for observation may be smaller than the number of images for white blood cell. Consequently, the area of the large area image database occupied in the hard disk 35 can be reduced. Since the large area images are not needlessly stored, the time required for storing the large area images can be reduced.
At the step S170, the CPU 32 determines whether or not the number of detected white blood cells is a set value or more. The set value of the number of white blood cells can be set in the order set screen 361 (see
After performing the aforementioned image capturing/classifying processing at the step S16, the CPU 32 determines whether or not an instruction of requesting data for list display from the review terminal 5 has been made at a step S17 in
In the review terminal 5, the CPU 51 initializes a computer program at a step S31. Then, a sample information list initial screen (not shown) is displayed on the display section 55 at a step S32, and a request signal of the data for list display is transmitted to the image processing section 30 at a step S33.
In the image processing section 30, when determining that the instruction of requesting the data for list display has been made at the step S17, the CPU 32 transmits the data for list display to the review terminal 5 through the communication interface 39 at a step S18. When the instruction of requesting the data for list display has not been made, the process advances to a step S19.
In the review terminal 5, on the other hand, the CPU 51 determines whether or not the data for list display has been received at a step S34. The process advances to a step S36 when the data for list display has not been received, while information of a display item 551a of the sample information list screen 551 displayed on the display section 55 is updated at a step S35 as shown in
Then, the CPU 51 determines whether or not the instruction of viewing the image for review has been made from the user at the step S36, and the process advances to a step S40 when the viewing instruction has not been made. When the viewing instruction has been made, an image reading instruction signal is transmitted to the image processing section 30 through the communication interface 58 at a step S37.
In the image processing section 30, it is determined whether or not an instruction of reading the image for review from the review terminal 5 has been made at a step S19. The process advances to a step S21 when the reading instruction has not been made, while data regarding the image for review is transmitted to the review terminal 5 at the step S20 when the reading instruction has been made. More specifically, various data stored in the large area image database, the portion image database, the blood cell type database and the review information database of the hard disk 35 are transmitted to the review terminal 5 through the communication interface 39.
In the review terminal 5, the CPU 51 determines whether or not the data regarding the image for review transmitted from the image processing section 30 has been received at a step S38 and this determination is repeated until the data is received. When the data regarding the image for review has been received, review processing is performed at a step S39. The review processing by the review terminal 5 will be now described with reference to
At a step S391 in
The review (manual classification) of the white blood cells by the user is accepted at a step S392 and it is determined whether or not a review completion button 552h has been pressed by the user at a step S393. The process advances to the step S392 when the review completion button 552h has not been pressed, while the review results of the white blood cells are transmitted to the host computer 6 and the image processing section 30 respectively at a step S394 when the review completion button 552 has been pressed. Then the review results of the white blood cells are stored in the host computer 6 and the image processing section 30 respectively. In other words, the review terminal 5 can accept input of the information (manual classification) regarding the cell type of the white blood cell included in each portion image through the white blood cell review screen 552.
According to this embodiment, the CPU 51 determines whether or not the red blood cell morphology imaging mode has been set at a step S395. The red blood cell morphology imaging mode can previously set by the user in order setting processing (see
The review of the red blood cells (determination of the morphology information) by the user is accepted at a step S397 and it is determined whether or not a review completion button 553c has been pressed by the user at a step S398. The process advances to the step S397 when the review completion button 553c has not been pressed, while the review results of the red blood cell are transmitted to the host computer 6 and the image processing section 30 at a step S399 when the review completion button 553c has been pressed. The review results of the red blood cells are stored in the host computer 6 and the image processing section 30 respectively. In other words, the review terminal 5 can accept input of the information regarding the morphology of the red blood cell included in each large area image through the red blood cell review screen 553. Thereafter the CPU 51 determines whether or not a next sample (having one digit lower than the sample selected by the user on the sample information list screen 551 in the viewing instruction at the step S36) exists at a step S400, and the review processing is ended when the next sample does not exist. When the sample exists, the process advances to the step S391 and the white blood cell review screen 552 of the next sample is displayed.
After ending the aforementioned review processing at the step S39, it is determined whether or not a shutdown instruction from the user has been made at a step S40 shown in
In the image processing section 30, after the images for review are transmitted at the step S20, it is determined whether or not the review results of the white blood cells or the review results of the red blood cells transmitted from the review terminal 5 have been received at step S21. When the review results have been received, the received review results are stored in the hard disk 35 at a step S22. At this time, the review results of the white blood cells are separately stored in the hard disk 35 without overwriting the results automatically classified by the CPU 32. Thus, both of the results by the automatic classification and the results by the manual classification are stored in the hard disk 35. When the review results have not been received, it is determined whether or not a shutdown instruction from the user has been made at a step S23. When the shutdown instruction has not been made, the process advances to the step S13. When the shutdown instruction has been made, the shutdown operation is performed at a step S24 and the operation of the image processing section 30 is ended. Although a flowchart of
The order setting processing in the image processing section 30 of the blood cell image processing system 1 according to this embodiment will be now described with reference to
At a step S101 in
Check boxes for performing order selection and white blood cell count number selection are provided in the default order setting display area 361b of the order set screen 361. As default values, “white blood cell count+red blood cell morphology image” is selected as to the order selection and “100” is selected as to the white blood cell count number selection. When the “white blood cell count+red blood cell morphology image” is selected, the review of the red blood cells is set in the review terminal 5 in addition to the review of the white blood cells, and it is determined that the red blood cell morphology imaging mode has been set at the aforementioned step S395 in
It is determined whether or not an instruction of changing an order has been made at a step S103. More specifically, it is determined whether or not a storage button 361c of the order set screen 361 has been pressed by the user, and the change of the order is stored in the hard disk 35 at a step S104 when the storage button 361c has been pressed. When the storage button 361c has not been pressed and a cancel button 361d has been pressed, the order setting processing is ended without change.
The review screen setting processing in the review terminal 5 of the blood cell image processing system 1 according to this embodiment will be now described with reference to
First, the CPU 51 determines whether or not an instruction of displaying the display set screen from the user has been made at a step S111 in
The blood cell types which are displayed and not displayed in the white blood cell image display area 552a (see
At a step S113, it is determined whether or not a setting change instruction has been made. More specifically, it is determined whether or not a storage button 554h of the display set screen 554 has been pressed by the user. When the storage button 554h has been pressed, the display setting is changed at a step S114. When the storage button 554h is not pressed and a cancel button 554h has been pressed, the review screen setting processing is ended without change.
According to this embodiment, as hereinabove described, the blood cell image processing system 1 comprises the CPU 32 for obtaining the large area image which is obtained by imaging the area detected by the white blood cell detecting section 22, the area including the white blood cell and the plurality of red blood cells surrounding the white blood cell, and for obtaining the portion image including the white blood cell from the large area image, and the hard disk 35 for storing the portion image as the image for monitoring white blood cell and storing the large area image as the image for monitoring red blood cell, whereby the portion image employed as the image for monitoring white blood cell is obtained from the large area image employed as the image for monitoring red blood cell and hence the image for monitoring white blood cell and the image for monitoring red blood cell may not be separately taken. Thus, the white blood cell and the red blood cell can be observed (monitored) using the image for monitoring white blood cell and the image for monitoring red blood cell stored in the hard disk 35, and the time required for imaging the sample can be reduced due to unnecessity of separately taking the image for monitoring white blood cell and the image for monitoring red blood cell.
According to this embodiment, the communication interfaces 39 and 58 are provided in the image processing section 30 and the review terminal 5 respectively, whereby the user can observe (monitor) the white blood cells and the red blood cells by the review terminal 5 even when he is at a place away from the automatic microscope 10 and the image processing section 30.
According to this embodiment, the blood cell types displayed in the white blood cell image display area 552a can be set on the display set screen 554, and hence the user can easily observe only the cell types required for observation.
Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.
For example, while the blood cell images are displayed on the display section of the review terminal in the aforementioned embodiment, the present invention is not restricted to this but the blood cell images may be displayed on the display section of the image processing section and the input of the review information by the user may be accepted by the CPU of the image processing section. In addition, while the review screen setting processing are performed by the CPU of the review terminal, the review screen setting may be performed by the CPU of the image processing section.
While the display section is provided in the image processing section in the aforementioned embodiment, the present invention is not restricted to this but the display section may not be provided in the image processing section so far as the blood cell image can be displayed on the display section of the review terminal.
While twenty-four of the large area images are stored in the hard disk as the image for monitoring red blood cell in the aforementioned embodiment, the present invention is not restricted to this but less than or more than twenty four of the large area images may be stored.
While the image processing section performs automatic classification of the blood cell type of the white blood cell in the aforementioned embodiment, the present invention is not restricted to this but the image processing section may not perform automatic classification of the blood cell type of the white blood cell.
While the images of the white blood cells are displayed on the white blood cell review screen and the images of the red blood cells are displayed on the red blood cell review screen different from the white blood cell review screen in the aforementioned embodiment, the present invention is not restricted to this but both of the images of the white blood cells and the images of the red blood cells may be displayed on a single screen.
While the blood smeared on the slide glass is shown as an exemplary sample in the aforementioned embodiment, the present invention is not restricted to this but bone marrow fluid or urine smeared on the slide glass may be employed as the sample so far as the sample includes the white blood cells and the red blood cells.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-013122 | Jan 2008 | JP | national |
