COMPUTER AIDED DIAGNOSIS OF CYTOGENETIC DISEASE

THIS PROJECT IS A STUDY WHICH WILL LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOFTWARE AND AN AUTOMATED HIGH-SPEED IMAGE ANALYSIS SYSTEM WHCIH CAN BE USED TO ASSIST IN DIAGNOSING CYTOGENETIC DESEASES USING FISH (FLUORESCENCE IN SITU HYBRIDIZATION) TECHNIQUES. THE COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEM WILL BE CAPABLE OF CREATING 8 IMAGE PLANES OF THE SAME VIEW, ALL IN DIFFERENT COLORS, AND MERGING THOSE CONSTITUENT IMAGE PLANES TO FORM A COMPOSITE IMAGE. THE CONSTITUENT IMAGES CAN BE OVERLAYED IN ANY RANDOM ORDER TO SUIT THE RESEARCHER'S REQUIREMENTS. SYSTEM USERS WILL BE ABLE TO TOGGLE BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT IMAGES, PROVIDING THE ABILITY TO DO COMPARATIVE ANALYSES. DIGITAL IMAGING MICROSCOPY CAN GREATLY IMPROVE SIGNAL DETECTION, ENHANCE SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIOS, AND ALLOW STATE-OF-THE-ART QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ANALYSES. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION WILL PROVIDE THE ABILITY FOR FISH ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES, USED FOR BOTH DIAGNOSTIC MOLECULAR CYTOGENETICS AND PHYSICAL GENE MAPPING APPLICATIONS, TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL. ADDITIONALLY, IT WILL ULTIMATELY LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN AUTOMATED CLINICAL LABORATORY INSTRUMENT WHICH WILL IMPROVE ACCURACY, INSURE CONSISTENCY, REDUCE CYCLE TIME, AND LOWER COSTS RELATED TO THE DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, GENETIC DISEASES, AND VARIOUS TYPES OF CANCERS.