| 摘要 |
Local sensitive force detector output data, acquired from a cellular and sub-cellular structures ("biological structures"), are quantified in an objective format. Data are acquired from two axes of the biological structure at scan positions along a third axis of the biological structure, which is perpendicular to the two axes. Data are then quantified as a function of scan position along the third axis. The quantified data can be plotted and displayed to generate a two-dimensional representation of a biological structure's morphology, which contains quantified data points from along the third axis of the biological structure. The output can be used for morphology-based classification and typing of biological structures. The invention classifies and types biological structures by converting the local sensitive force detector data into a graphical fingerprint, which, for example, can be compared to standard data generated from known biological structures. Potential applications of the invention include (1) differentiating cells, such as malignant, premalignant, and benign cells in Pap smears, (2) typing cells into blood cell types, such as T-lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes, platelets, and red blood cells, and (3) identifying genetic variants among a group of macromolecules. Sub-cellular applications include classification of sperm nuclei. Advantages over and differences from previous methods include providing (1) data having higher resolution than confocal microscope data and (2) a measurement of biological structure's morphology as a function of scan position along a single axis, and (3) a method for objectively comparing the higher resolution data obtained from unknown biological structures to known biological structures.
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