Automatic Karyotyping of Human Chromosomes using Band Patterns

Abstract

Microscope image processing is basically the use of digital image processing techniques to process, analyse and present images obtained from a microscope. Such processing is now commonplace in a number of diverse fields such as medicine, biological research, cancer research, drug testing, and metallurgy etc. The complex diagnostic process (time consuming and tedious process) can be enhanced by providing the pathologists or the biologists with quantitative data extracted from the images. The target of this research is to develop a simple, improved and efficient system for automated karyotyping. Karyotype analysis is a widespread procedure in cytogenetics to assess the possible presence of genetic defects. The procedure is lengthy and repetitive, so an automatic analysis would greatly help the cytogeneticists routine work. Hence, an automatic procedure to obtain the separated chromosomes, which are then ready for a subsequent classification step, would have significant implication. It involves the analysis and processing of a native image of captured chromosomes so as to produce a paired and classified arrangement of the same, also called as a karyotype. The procedure follows enhancement, extraction and classification. The limiting factors for efficiency could be image resolution, overlapped or over-segmented chromosomes, and presence of artifacts. Thus, the reliability and accuracy of the system developed largely depends on solving these issues. This research work offers implementations to overcome these challenges.