TWI880485B - Digital slide microscopic scanning apparatus and method for microscopic scanning of slides - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a digital slide microscopic scanning apparatus and a method for scanning slides. The digital slide microscopic scanning apparatus comprises a sample repository, a transfer device, and a scanning device. The transfer device is configured to transfer slides with biological microtissues between the sample repository and the scanning device. The scanning device includes a first camera and a second camera. The first camera scans the entire slide at a lower first magnification, capturing a first microscopic image. Based on the first microscopic image, the target region of the slide is determined. The second camera scans the target region at a higher magnification, capturing a second microscopic image. The rapid acquisition of the first and second microscopic images results in a low data volume when converting the obtained first and second digital files.

Description

Digital slide microscanner and slide microscanning method

The present invention relates to the field of scanning of slides for biological tissue cell detection; in particular, it refers to a digital slide microscanner and a slide microscanning method.

The microscopic tissues of organisms including humans are sampled and stored on a slide. A digital slide scanner is used to microscopically scan the slide to obtain an image of the sample, and the image is converted into a digital file and stored in digital form. The image can be used to determine the biological tissue of the sampled object.

The digital slide scanner selects a high magnification of 20x or 40x to obtain the image by panoramic microscopy at the slide according to the needs of the sample. It takes a long time to obtain the image, and the image has a high number of pixels, so it takes a long time to convert it into a digital file. The converted digital file has a large amount of data, which is not conducive to microscanning a large number of slides in a short time, nor is it conducive to copying and transmitting the digital file. In addition, the large amount of data in the digital file is likely to cause a burden on the relevant storage equipment.

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a digital slide microscanner and a slide microscanning method.

To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical scheme: a digital slide microscope scanner, including a sample library, a transfer device and a scanning device, wherein: the sample library is a storage device for arranging a plurality of slides, each of which can be used to carry a sample of biological micro-tissue; the transfer device includes a mechanical arm assembly and a clamp, wherein one side of the mechanical arm assembly faces the sample library, and the clamp is arranged on the side of the mechanical arm assembly facing the sample library. The robot assembly drives the gripper to take out or put in the selected glass slide from the sample library, and transfer the glass slide between the sample library and the scanning device; the scanning device is arranged on one side of the robot assembly, and includes a carrier, a mounting seat, a motor, a first camera, a second camera and a processing unit, wherein the carrier carries and positions the glass slide, the first camera, the second camera and the motor are electrically connected to the processing unit respectively, and the first camera The first camera and the second camera are respectively arranged on a side of the setting seat facing the stage, and the first camera and the second camera are respectively used to scan the glass slide and transmit the scanned images to the processing unit; the motor drives the setting seat to switch between the first camera and the second camera to scan the glass slide; the first camera scans the glass slide with a first magnification and a full frame to obtain a first microscopic image of the sample, and the second camera scans a selected target area of the glass slide with a second magnification to obtain a first microscopic image of the sample. The first microscopic image is a second microscopic image, and the first microscopic image and the second microscopic image are transmitted to the processing unit accordingly; the first magnification is less than the second magnification; the processing unit is mainly composed of an electronic circuit having at least one microprocessor, and the microprocessor runs image recognition software, and based on the first microscopic image, determines that the second camera scans the target area of the glass slide, and converts the first microscopic image and the second microscopic image into a first digital file and a second digital file in digital form respectively.

A glass slide microscanning method is performed by using the digital glass slide microscanner as described above; the method comprises the following steps performed in sequence: glass slide positioning: the transfer device selects the glass slide with the sample from the sample library and transfers the glass slide to the stage; full-frame scanning: the first camera scans the glass slide with the first magnification and full-frame to obtain the first microscopic image of the sample; identifying the first microscopic image and marking the target area: the microprocessor runs the image recognition software to identify the first microscopic image and marks the target area based on the mark obtained by the recognition; At least one distribution area of cells or tissues of the sample is determined as the target area, and the first microscopic image is converted into the first digital file; regional scanning: the processing unit controls the motor, the setting seat is actuated to make the second camera scan the target area of the glass slide at the second magnification, and obtain the second microscopic image of the sample, the processing unit runs the image recognition software to recognize the second microscopic image, and converts the second microscopic image into the second digital file; glass slide return: the transfer device places the scanned glass slide into the sample library.

The main effect and advantage of the present invention is that it can quickly perform full-frame scanning at a lower first magnification, and then scan the target area at a higher second magnification, so that the time required to obtain the image can be reduced, the time required to obtain the first digital file and the second digital file is short, and the data volume of the first digital file and the second digital file is smaller than that of the previous technology, which is conducive to microscopic scanning of a large number of slides in a short time, and is also conducive to the copying and transmission of the first digital file and the second digital file.

10: Sample library

12: Space

20:Transfer device

22: Robotic arm assembly

24: Clamp

30: Scanning device

31: Carrier

32: Setting seat

33: Electric motor

34: First Camera

35: Second camera

36: Processing unit

362: Microprocessor

37: Linear slide rail

38: Third Camera

40: Image storage

90: Glass slide

92: Sample

94: Target area

Figure 1 is a three-dimensional diagram of the digital slide microscope scanner of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a partial three-dimensional diagram of the digital slide microscope scanner of the preferred embodiment 1 of the present invention, showing a portion of the transfer device.

Figure 3 is a partial front view of the digital slide microscope scanner of the preferred embodiment 1 of the present invention, showing a portion of the scanning device.

Figure 4 is a partial three-dimensional diagram of the scanning device of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a circuit block diagram of the scanning device of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a full-frame scan slide.

Figure 7 is a plan view of the target area selected on the slide.

Figure 8 is a flow chart of the slide microscanning method of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 9 is a partial right side view of a scanning device of another embodiment of the present invention.

The figures show embodiments of the present invention, but these embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and are not limited to these embodiments in patent applications.

As shown in Figures 1 to 7, the digital slide microscope scanner includes a sample library 10, a transfer device 20 and a scanning device 30, wherein the sample library 10 is a storage device for setting a plurality of slides 90, each of which can be used to carry a sample 92 of biological micro-tissues. Specifically, the sample library 10 is divided into a plurality of spaces 12, and each of the spaces 12 is arranged in parallel from top to bottom, and each of the slides 90 is arranged in parallel with each other in the vertical direction in sequence and at intervals in each of the spaces 12, which can improve the space efficiency of storing a plurality of slides 90.

The transfer device 20 includes a robot arm assembly 22 and a clamp 24, wherein one side of the robot arm assembly 22 faces the sample library 10, and the clamp 24 is disposed on the side of the robot arm assembly 22 facing the sample library 10. The robot arm assembly 22 drives the clamp 24 to remove or insert the selected glass slide 90 from the sample library 10 and transfer the glass slide 90 between the sample library 10 and the scanning device 30.

The scanning device 30 is disposed on one side of the robot arm assembly 22, and includes a carrier 31, a mounting seat 32, a motor 33, a first camera 34, a second camera 35 and a processing unit 36, wherein the carrier 31 carries and positions the glass slide 90, the mounting seat 32 is opposite to the side of the carrier 31 for carrying the glass slide 90, the first camera 34 and the second camera 35 are respectively disposed on the side of the mounting seat 32 facing the carrier 31, the first camera 34 and the second camera 35 are respectively electrically connected to the processing unit 36, so that the first camera 34 and the second camera 35 respectively scan the glass slide 90 and transmit the scanned image to the processing unit 36.

The first camera 34 and the second camera 35 are respectively existing components familiar to people in the field to which the present invention belongs, and the specific structures of the first camera 34 and the second camera 35 are not described in detail.

The motor 33 is electrically connected to the processing unit 36, and the motor 33 drives the mounting base 32 to switch between the first camera 34 and the second camera 35 to scan the glass slide 90.

The first camera 34 scans the glass slide 90 with a first magnification and obtains a first microscopic image of the sample 92. The second camera 35 scans a selected target area 94 of the glass slide 90 with a second magnification and obtains a second microscopic image of the sample 92. The first microscopic image and the second microscopic image are transmitted to the processing unit 36 accordingly. The first magnification is less than the second magnification. In this example, the first magnification is selected as 4 times, and the second magnification is selected as 20 times.

The processing unit 36 is composed of an electronic circuit having at least one microprocessor 362. The microprocessor 362 runs image recognition software. The first camera 34 and the second camera 35 are electrically connected to the microprocessor 362 respectively. Based on the first microscopic image, the second camera 35 is determined to scan the target area 94 of the glass slide 90, and the first microscopic image and the second microscopic image are converted into a first digital file and a second digital file in digital form respectively.

As shown in FIG8 , the slide microscanning method performed using the aforementioned digital slide microscanner includes the following steps performed in sequence: Slide positioning: The transfer device 20 selects the slide 90 having the sample 92 from the sample library 10 and transfers the slide 90 to the stage 31.

Full-frame scanning: The first camera 34 scans the glass slide 90 at the first magnification in full frame to obtain the first microscopic image of the sample 92; before the first camera 34 performs full-frame scanning, the processing unit 36 can drive the first camera 34 as needed to enable the first camera 34 to focus.

Identify the first microscopic image and mark the target area: The microprocessor 362 runs the image recognition software to identify the first microscopic image, marks at least one distribution area of cells or tissues of the sample 92 as the target area 94 based on the recognition, and converts the first microscopic image into the first digital file.

Area scanning: The processing unit 36 controls the motor 33, and the motor 33 drives the mounting base 32 to move, so that the second camera 35 faces the glass slide 90. The second camera 35 scans the target area 94 of the glass slide 90 at the second magnification to obtain the second microscopic image of the sample 92. The microprocessor 362 runs the image recognition software to recognize the second microscopic image and converts the second microscopic image into the second digital file.

Slide return: The transfer device 20 places the scanned slide 90 into the sample library 10.

The first digital file and the second digital file can be selectively transmitted to a remote data storage device or an interpretable remote device through a transmission network, so that the remote device interprets the first digital file or the second digital file and presents the corresponding first microscopic image or the second microscopic image, providing relevant medical personnel or researchers with the opportunity to interpret the first microscopic image or the second microscopic image.

The first camera 34 scans the sample 92 at the first magnification which is relatively low. After determining the target area 94, the second camera 35 scans the confirmed target area 94 at the second magnification which is relatively high. The second camera 35 does not scan the part outside the target area 94 to obtain the second microscopic image which can be interpreted by medical personnel or researchers. The amount of data of the second digital file converted from the second microscopic image is significantly lower than that of the conventional technology with the same magnification. Compared with the prior art, although the present invention needs to produce the first digital file converted from the first microscopic image, the total amount of data of the first digital file and the second digital file is much lower than that of the digital file obtained by the prior art scanning. For medical personnel or researchers, the main object of interpretation is the second digital file, and the first digital file is usually required to be viewed in a few occasions.

The preferred embodiment quickly performs full-frame scanning at the lower first magnification, and then scans the target area 94 at the higher second magnification. The time required for overall scanning to obtain images is reduced compared to the prior art. The number of pixels of the first microscopic image and the second microscopic image obtained is low, and the time required for conversion to the first digital file and the second digital file is lower than the prior art. The amount of data of the converted first digital file and the second digital file is smaller than the prior art, which is conducive to microscopic scanning of a large number of the slides 90 in a short time, and is also conducive to the copying and transmission of the first digital file and the second digital file.

The mounting base 32 is selectively connected to two linear slide rails 37, and the motor 33 drives the mounting base 32 through each of the linear slide rails 37, so that the mounting base 32 reciprocates linearly, and the first camera 34 and the second camera 35 are arranged at intervals along the direction of the reciprocating motion of the mounting base 32.

The scanning device 30 further includes a third camera 38, which is disposed on the side of the mounting seat 32 facing the carrier 31, and the third camera 38 is electrically connected to the microprocessor 362.

Based on the configuration of the third camera 38, the slide microscanning method further includes a high-magnification scanning step, wherein after the regional scanning step is completed, the high-magnification scanning step is performed as needed based on the content displayed by the second microscopic image, and then the slide restoration step is performed; the timing for selecting to perform the high-magnification scanning step may be when the processing unit 36 determines that the second microscopic image requires a higher resolution for further analysis, and the main reason may be that the cell or nuclear features displayed in the second microscopic image are smaller.

In the high-magnification scanning step, the processing unit 36 controls the motor 33 to move the mounting base 32, and the third camera 38 scans the target area 94 at a third magnification to obtain a third microscopic image of the sample 92. The microprocessor 362 runs the image recognition software to recognize the third microscopic image and converts the third microscopic image into a third digital file. The third magnification is higher than the second magnification; the third magnification is selected to be 40 times.

The first camera 34, the second camera 35 and the third camera 38 are arranged at intervals along the direction of the reciprocating motion of the mounting base 32, and the second camera 35 is located between the first camera 34 and the third camera 38.

The digital slide microscope scanner further includes an image storage library 40, which is mainly composed of a readable and writable storage medium and is used to store the first digital file, the second digital file and the third digital file. The image storage library 40 is electrically connected to the processing unit 36, so that the processing unit 36 transmits the first digital file, the second digital file and the third digital file to the image storage library 40.

As shown in FIG. 9 , another embodiment of the present invention is mainly different from the preferred embodiment in that the mounting seat 32 is driven to rotate by the motor 33, and the first camera 34, the second camera 35 and the third camera 38 are arranged in a ring-shaped interval on the side of the mounting seat 32 facing the carrier 31.

30: Scanning device

31: Carrier

32: Setting seat

33: Electric motor

34: First Camera

35: Second camera

38: Third Camera

90: Glass slide

Claims (8)

A digital slide microscope scanner includes a sample library, a transfer device and a scanning device, wherein: The sample library is a storage device for arranging a plurality of slides, each of which can be used to carry samples of biological micro-tissues; The transfer device includes a robot arm assembly and a clamp, wherein one side of the robot arm assembly faces the sample library, and the clamp is arranged on the side of the robot arm assembly facing the sample library, and the robot arm assembly drives the clamp to make the clamp take out or put in the selected slide from the sample library, and transfer the slide between the sample library and the scanning device; The scanning device is arranged on one side of the robot arm assembly, and includes a carrier, a mounting seat, a motor, a first camera, a second camera and a processing unit, wherein the carrier carries and positions the glass slide, the first camera, the second camera and the motor are electrically connected to the processing unit respectively, the first camera and the second camera are respectively arranged on the side of the mounting seat facing the carrier, and the first camera and the second camera are respectively used to scan the glass slide and transmit the scanned image to the processing unit; The motor drives the mounting seat to change and select the first camera or the second camera to scan the glass slide; The first camera scans the glass slide with a first magnification and obtains a first microscopic image of the sample. The second camera scans a selected target area of the glass slide with a second magnification and obtains a second microscopic image of the sample. The first microscopic image and the second microscopic image are transmitted to the processing unit accordingly. The first magnification is less than the second magnification. The processing unit is mainly composed of an electronic circuit having at least one microprocessor. The microprocessor runs image recognition software. Based on the first microscopic image, the second camera is determined to scan the target area of the glass slide, and the first microscopic image and the second microscopic image are converted into a first digital file and a second digital file in digital form, respectively. A digital slide microscope scanner as described in claim 1, wherein the mounting base is connected to two linear slide rails, the motor drives each of the linear slide rails to cause the mounting base to reciprocate linearly, and the first camera and the second camera are arranged at intervals along the direction of the reciprocating motion of the mounting base. A digital slide microscope scanner as described in claim 1, wherein the scanning device further includes a third camera, the third camera is disposed on the side of the mounting base facing the stage, and the third camera is electrically connected to the processing unit; Based on the content displayed by the second microscope image, the processing unit selects the third camera to scan the target area of the slide at a third magnification higher than the second magnification, obtains a third microscope image of the sample, and transmits the third microscope image to the processing unit, and the processing unit converts the third microscope image into a third digital file in digital form. A digital slide microscope scanner as described in claim 3, wherein the mounting base is connected to two linear slide rails, the motor drives each of the linear slide rails to reciprocate linearly, the first camera, the second camera and the third camera are arranged at intervals along the direction of the reciprocating motion of the mounting base, and the second camera is located between the first camera and the third camera. The digital slide microscope scanner as described in claim 3 further includes an image storage library, which is mainly composed of a readable and writable storage medium and is used to store the first digital file, the second digital file and the third digital file. The image storage library is electrically connected to the processing unit so that the processing unit transmits the first digital file, the second digital file and the third digital file to the image storage library. The digital slide microscope scanner as described in claim 1, wherein each of the slides is arranged in the sample library in parallel and in sequence along the vertical direction. A slide microscanning method is performed using a digital slide microscanner as described in claim 1; it includes the following steps performed in sequence: Slide positioning: the transfer device selects the slide with the sample from the sample library and transfers the slide to the stage; Full-frame scanning: the first camera scans the slide with the first magnification in full frame to obtain the first microscopic image of the sample; Identifying the first microscopic image and marking the target area: the microprocessor runs the image recognition software to identify the first microscopic image, marks at least one distribution area of the cells or tissues of the sample as the target area based on the recognition, and converts the first microscopic image into the first digital file; Area scanning: The processing unit controls the motor, and the mounting base is actuated to enable the second camera to scan the target area of the glass slide at the second magnification to obtain the second microscopic image of the sample. The processing unit runs the image recognition software to recognize the second microscopic image and convert the second microscopic image into the second digital file; Glass slide return: The transfer device places the scanned glass slide into the sample library. The slide microscanning method as described in claim 7, wherein the scanning device further includes a third camera, the third camera is disposed on the bottom side of the mounting base, and the third camera is electrically connected to the processing unit; The slide microscanning method further includes a high-magnification scanning step, wherein after the regional scanning step is completed, the processing unit determines the content displayed by the second microscopic image, executes the high-magnification scanning step, and then executes the slide restoration step; In the high-magnification scanning step, the processing unit controls the motor to move the setting seat, the third camera scans the target area at a third magnification, obtains a third microscopic image of the sample, and the processing unit runs the image recognition software to recognize the third microscopic image and convert the third microscopic image into a third digital file. The third magnification is higher than the second magnification.

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