Japanese journal of medical electronics and biological engineering
Online ISSN : 2185-5498
Print ISSN : 0021-3292
ISSN-L : 0021-3292
System Software for Automatic Detection of Numerical Chromosome Aberrations
Taku YODARyuzo SHINGAITarou OGURUSUKohsuke SASAKI
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1998 Volume 36 Issue 3 Pages 235-243

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Abstract

Numerical chromosome aberrations of cancer cells can be detected by counting the number of FITC-labeled spots per nucleus. Each spot has bright green fluorescence emitted from the FITC-labeled DNA probe that hybridizes with the peri-centromere of the chromosome. The nuclei are stained with a red fluorescent dye. We have devised a system for automatic detection of numerical chromosome abnormalities. The hardware of the system includes a fluorescence microscope with a computer-controllable stage, a CCD camera, and a personal computer. The software for automatic counting of FITC-labeled fluorescent spots in nuclei consists of the following parts. The focal plane of the microscope is changed in order to determine the nuclear region at each focus, and to detect the FITC-labeled spots. If in a red region, which is considered a candidate of nuclear region, the following three values each lie within a specified range, then the red region is regarded as a nucleus: (1) the area of the red region, (2) the ratio between the height and width of a rectangle which circumscribes the red region, and (3) the ratio between the area of the red region and the area of the rectangle circumscribing it. If the region does not satisfy these values, it is regarded as an undesirable object such as clustered or injured nuclei, or a noise spot, and removed from further processing. The number of FITC-labeled spots per nucleus is counted. The time required for the automatic measurement is similar to that achieved by the human eye. The histogram of the nuclear population assorted according to the number of FITC-labeled spots resulting from hybridization to female X chromosomes showed that the result obtained by automated counting corresponded well to that achieved by the human eye.

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