System and apparatus for the remote analysis of chemical compound microarrays

Abstract

A remote microarray analysis system, method and apparatus for use in the remote analysis of a chemical compound microarray supported on a substrate is disclosed. Pixel image data is received from a remote location including image data that depicts (a) a calibration scale associated with the substrate and (b) the microarray. A transformation action of said pixel data corresponding to the calibration scale is determined and the received image data corresponding to at least the microarray is adjusted by applying the transformation action. The adjusted image of the microarray is compared with a database of stored microarray pixel data to extract information from said image.

I claim: 
     
       1. A computer implemented method for the remote analysis of a respective chemical compound microarray supported on a substrate, the remote analysis executed as an application residing on a computing device, the computing device having a processor and a storage medium, and the remote analysis application having one or more software modules stored on the storage medium and executed in the processor, the method comprising:
 receiving pixel image data from a remote location, including image data that depicts within the field of view of an image acquisition device configured to obtain an image, (a) a calibration scale associated with the substrate wherein the calibration scale includes a color scale having a plurality of color elements, each color element having a known color value that corresponds with the respective chemical compound microarray and (b) the respective chemical compound microarray; 
 evaluating at least one color value corresponding to at least one image pixel wherein the at least one image pixel corresponds to a location in the image depicting at least one color element of the color scale; 
 determining a transformation action of said the pixel data corresponding to the color scale using a calibration module so as to match at least the color and hue value of the at least one image pixel with the i) known color and hue value of the corresponding color element for the respective chemical compound microarray; 
 adjusting the received image data corresponding to at least the respective chemical compound microarray by applying the transformation action using an adjustment module; 
 comparing the adjusted image of the microarray with a database of stored microarray pixel data to extract information from said image using an analysis module; and 
 outputting the information to a remote device. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the microarray is configured to exhibit a color change upon being exposed to a sample having predetermined properties, the method further comprising:
 storing reference data on the calibration scale, the step of determining the transformation action including determining a transformation action to transform at least a subset of the image data depicting the calibration scale to values corresponding to a corresponding subset of the reference data. 
 
     
     
       3. A remote microarray analysis system configured to remotely analyze a respective chemical compound microarray supported on a substrate, comprising:
 a data communication module configured to receive pixel image data from a remote location including pixel image data that depicts (a) a calibration scale associated with the substrate wherein the calibration scale includes a color scale having a plurality of color elements, each color element having a known color value that corresponds with the respective chemical compound microarray and (b) the respective chemical compound microarray; 
 an evaluation module configured to evaluate at least one color value corresponding to at least one image pixel wherein the at least one image pixel corresponds to a location in the image depicting at least one color element of the color scale; 
 a calibration module configured to determine a transformation action of said the pixel data corresponding to the calibration scale using a calibration module so as to match at least the color and hue value of the pixel data to the known color values of the corresponding color scale; 
 an adjustment module configured to adjust the received pixel image data corresponding to at least the respective chemical compound microarray by applying the transformation action using an adjustment module; 
 an analysis module configured to compare the adjusted pixel image data of the microarray with a database of stored microarray pixel data to extract information from the adjusted pixel image data using an analysis module; and 
 a data output module configured to output the information to a remote device. 
 
     
     
       4. The remote microarray analysis system of  claim 3 , wherein at least a portion of the microarray and calibration scale are arranged to exhibit a color change upon being exposed to a sample having predetermined properties, the system further comprising a memory encoding data on the calibration scale, wherein the calibration module is configured to determine the transformation action by accessing a reference data in the memory and determining a transformation action to transform at least a subset of the image data depicting the calibration scale to values corresponding to a corresponding subset of the reference data. 
     
     
       5. The remote microarray analysis system of  claim 3 , wherein the calibration module is configured to operate as a discrete series of sub-modules configured to check at least a portion of the pixel data corresponding to the calibration scale against a set of reference pixels that comprises one or more parameters selected from the group consisting essentially of: luminosity, a shadow, a highlight and a color temperature, and determining the transformation action. 
     
     
       6. The remote microarray analysis system of  claim 3 , wherein the adjustment module configured to operate as a discrete series of sub-modules comprising adjusting the pixel value levels of one or more parameters selected from the group consisting essentially of a luminosity parameter, a shadow parameter, a highlight parameter and a color temperature parameter. 
     
     
       7. The remote microarray analysis system of  claim 3 , wherein the adjustment module further comprises an image correction module configured to operate as a series of discrete sub-modules for identifying all pixels that share one or more parameters selected from the group consisting essentially of a luminosity parameter, a shadow parameter, a highlight parameter and a color temperature parameter;
 and adjusting said pixels in a similar manner. 
 
     
     
       8. The remote microarray analysis system of  claim 3 , wherein the analysis module is configured to operate as a series of discrete sub-modules configured to check at least a portion of the pixel data corresponding to the image and comparing said pixels to a database of stored parameters, where stored parameters correspond to a specific biological analysis. 
     
     
       9. The remote microarray analysis system of  claim 3 , wherein the calibration scale is supported on the substrate. 
     
     
       10. The remote microarray analysis system of  claim 3 , wherein the image data is sent via the internet. 
     
     
       11. The remote microarray analysis system of  claim 3 , wherein the remote device is configured to send and receive image data. 
     
     
       12. The remote microarray analysis system of  claim 3 , wherein the database is integral to the analysis module. 
     
     
       13. The microarray analysis system of  claim 3 , wherein the remote device is further configured to include an image capture device. 
     
     
       14. An apparatus for remotely analyzing a plurality of microarray images, the apparatus comprising:
 a support comprising a respective chemical compound microarray; 
 a calibration scale associated with at least one of the support and the chemical compound microarray; the calibration scale including a color scale having a plurality of color elements, each color element having a known color value that corresponds with the respective chemical compound microarray; 
 an image recording device configured to record an image of the respective chemical compound microarray and the calibration scale after usage of the microarray; 
 a data communication device configured to transmit the image of the chemical compound microarray via a network; and 
 a network connected image analysis device configured to receive the image of the respective chemical compound microarray, evaluate at least one color value corresponding to at least one image pixel wherein the at least one image pixel corresponds to a location in the image depicting at least one color element of the color scale, determine a transformation action of said the pixel data corresponding to the color scale so as to match at least the color and hue value of the at least one image pixel with the known color and hue value of the corresponding color element for the respective chemical compound microarray and analyze the data contained therein. 
 
     
     
       15. The apparatus for remotely analyzing microarray images of  claim 14 , wherein the chemical compound microarray further comprises an array of immobile target compounds. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus for remotely analyzing microarray images of  claim 15 , wherein the introduction of an analyte compound initiates a color change of the target compound. 
     
     
       17. The apparatus for remotely analyzing microarray images of  claim 16 , wherein the color change of the target compound is within a gradient spectrum of a reference color present on the calibration scale. 
     
     
       18. The apparatus for remotely analyzing microarray images of  claim 17 , wherein the color of the target compound relative to the gradient is correlated to the amount of said analyte. 
     
     
       19. The apparatus for remotely analyzing microarray images of  claim 14 , wherein the image analysis device is a computer having a processor and a storage device. 
     
     
       20. The apparatus for remotely analyzing microarray images of  claim 14 , wherein the data communication device is further configured to transmit images via the internet. 
     
     
       21. The apparatus for remotely analyzing microarray images of  claim 20 , wherein the images are transmitted via wireless protocol. 
     
     
       22. The apparatus for remotely analyzing microarray images of  claim 14 , wherein the calibration scale is supported on the support. 
     
     
       23. A computer implemented method for analysis of a respective chemical compound microarray supported on a substrate, the analysis executed as an application residing on a computing device and being output to a remote device, the computing device having a processor and a storage medium and a camera, and the analysis application having one or more software modules stored on the storage medium and executed in the processor, the method comprising:
 capturing, by the camera, an image comprising image pixels that depicts within a field of view of the camera: (a) a calibration scale associated with the substrate, wherein the calibration scale includes a color scale having a plurality of color elements, each color element having a known color value that corresponds with the respective chemical compound microarray; and (b) the respective chemical compound microarray;   evaluating, using an evaluation module executed by the processor, at least one color value corresponding to at least one of the captured image pixels, wherein the at least one of the captured image pixels corresponds to a location in the captured image depicting at least one color element of the color scale;   determining, using a calibration module executed by the processor, a transformation action of said captured image pixels that correspond to the color scale, so as to match at least a color value of the at least one of the captured image pixels with the known color value of the corresponding color element for the respective chemical compound microarray;   adjusting, using an adjustment module executed by the processor, the captured image pixels corresponding to at least the microarray by applying the transformation action, to provide an adjusted image of the microarray;   comparing, using an analysis module executed by the processor, the adjusted image of the microarray with a database of stored microarray pixel data to extract information from said adjusted image of the microarray; and   outputting the extracted information to the remote device.   
     
     
       24. The method of claim 23, wherein at least a portion of the microarray is configured to exhibit a color change upon being exposed to a sample having predetermined properties;
 further wherein the calibration scale is configured to store reference data; and   still further wherein adjusting the captured image pixels using the transformation action includes transforming at least a subset of the captured image pixels that depict the calibration scale to values corresponding to a respective subset of the stored reference data.   
     
     
       25. A microarray analysis system configured to analyze a respective chemical compound microarray supported on a substrate, comprising:
 a computing device configured with a processor, a camera, and a data communications module;   an image capture module that captures, via the camera, an image comprising image pixels that depicts (a) a calibration scale associated with the substrate wherein the calibration scale includes a color scale having a plurality of color elements, each color element having a known color value that corresponds with the respective chemical compound microarray and (b) the respective chemical compound microarray;   an evaluation module configured to evaluate at least one color value corresponding to at least one of the captured image pixels, wherein the at least one of the image pixels corresponds to a location in the image depicting at least one color element of the color scale;   a calibration module configured to determine a transformation action of the captured image pixels corresponding to the calibration scale so as to match at least a color value of the at least one of the image pixels to the known color values of the corresponding color scale for the respective chemical compound microarray;   an adjustment module configured to adjust the captured image pixels corresponding to at least the microarray by applying the transformation action;   an analysis module configured to compare the adjusted image pixels that correspond to at least the respective chemical compound microarray with a database of stored microarray pixel data to extract information from the adjusted image pixels; and   a data output module configured to output the information to a remote device.   
     
     
       26. The microarray analysis system of claim 25,
 wherein at least a portion of the microarray and calibration scale are arranged to exhibit a color change upon being exposed to a sample having predetermined properties, the system further comprising:   further wherein the calibration scale encodes data thereon, and   still further wherein the calibration module is configured to determine the transformation action by accessing reference data in the encoded data and transforming at least a subset of the image pixels depicting the calibration scale to values corresponding to a corresponding subset of the reference data.   
     
     
       27. The microarray analysis system of claim 25, wherein the calibration module is configured to operate as a discrete series of sub-modules configured to check at least a portion of the image pixels corresponding to the calibration scale against a set of reference pixels that comprises one or more parameters selected from the group consisting of: luminosity, shadow, highlight and color temperature, and to determine the transformation action as a function of the one or more parameters. 
     
     
       28. The microarray analysis system of claim 25, wherein the adjustment module is configured to operate as a discrete series of sub-modules configured to adjust pixel value levels of one or more parameters selected from the group consisting of: a luminosity parameter, a shadow parameter, a highlight parameter and a color temperature parameter. 
     
     
       29. The microarray analysis system of claim 25, wherein the adjustment module comprises an image correction module, wherein the image correction module is configured to operate as a series of discrete sub-modules for identifying image pixels that share one or more parameters selected from the group consisting of: a luminosity parameter, a shadow parameter, a highlight parameter and a color temperature parameter; and for adjusting the identified image pixels as a function of the one or more parameters. 
     
     
       30. The microarray analysis system of claim 25, wherein the analysis module is configured to operate as a series of discrete sub-modules configured to check at least a portion of the image pixels corresponding to the microarray and comparing the portion of the image pixels to a database of stored parameters that correspond to a specific biological analysis. 
     
     
       31. The microarray analysis system of claim 25, wherein the calibration scale is supported on the substrate. 
     
     
       32. The microarray analysis system of claim 25, wherein the information is transmitted via the internet. 
     
     
       33. The microarray analysis system of claim 25, wherein the database is integral to the analysis module. 
     
     
       34. The microarray analysis system of claim 25, wherein the chemical compound microarray further comprises an array of immobile target compounds. 
     
     
       35. The microarray analysis system of claim 34, wherein introduction of an amount of analyte compound initiates a color change of the target compounds. 
     
     
       36. The microarray analysis system of claim 35, wherein the color change of the target compound is within a gradient spectrum of a reference color present on the calibration scale. 
     
     
       37. The microarray analysis system of claim 36, wherein the color of the target compound relative to the gradient is correlated to the amount of the analyte compound. 
     
     
       38. The method of claim 25, wherein the chemical compound microarray further comprises an array of immobile target compounds. 
     
     
       39. The method of claim 38, wherein introduction of an amount of analyte compound initiates a color change of the target compounds. 
     
     
       40. The method of claim 39, wherein the color change of the target compound is within a gradient spectrum of a reference color present on the calibration scale. 
     
     
       41. The method of claim 40, wherein the color of the target compound relative to the gradient is correlated to the amount of the analyte compound.