INSPECTION SYSTEM WITH SPECIMEN PREPROCESSING

摘要

A clinical laboratory integrated screening and diagnostic system for preprocessing and inspection of cytological samples or other specimens. A processor receives digital images of each specimen and, using statistical analysis, estimates probabilities of atypia for objects or regions contained in the specimen. Based at least in part on these probabilities, the procesor then estimates a probability of atypia for the specimen as a whole. A specimen having high enough estimated probability of atypia is automatically categorized as suspicious or abnormal and is in turn screened by a human technician with the assistance of a preview system and a computer-assisted microscope workstation. A sample with sufficiently low or no probability of atypia is automatically categorized as apparently within normal limits and is then either screened by a human technician for quality assurance or automatically reported as within normal limits. After screening by the human technician, samples that the technician deems to be suspicious or abnormal are reviewed by an expert for final diagnosis.