Digital Microscopy Camera On-Device Focus Filtering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Digital microscopy systems face inefficiencies due to the need to transmit large amounts of data from multiple focus layers, resulting in high bandwidth requirements and costly hardware, as not all captured images contain useful information.
Innovation Solution
Determining focus values directly in the camera and comparing them to threshold values to select only relevant images for transmission, reducing bandwidth and processing power by capturing images at relevant focal distances and using programmable logic devices for efficient processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If images from multiple focus layers are captured and transmitted to external units, then complete analysis information is obtained, but data transmission bandwidth requirements increase and hardware costs rise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing focus value determination and image selection directly in the camera before data transmission. The camera calculates focus values for each captured image, compares them against thresholds, and identifies interesting images in advance, so that only selected images are transmitted to external units. This preliminary filtering action eliminates the need to transmit all captured images, reducing data volume while preserving all useful analysis information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts only the essential information (interesting images with sufficient focus quality) from the complete set of captured images. By determining focus values and comparing them to thresholds, the system extracts and transmits only those images that contain useful information, leaving behind unnecessary data that would consume bandwidth without contributing to analysis.
2Loss of information
If all captured images are transmitted to external units for analysis, then no information is lost, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary filtering of images based on focus values before transmission. By calculating focus values and comparing them to thresholds in the camera, the system pre-identifies which images are interesting and worth transmitting. This preliminary action reduces the total number of images that need to be processed externally, thereby reducing analysis processing time while ensuring all potentially useful images are included.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of image selection from transmitting all images to transmitting only images that meet specific focus value threshold criteria. This parameter change in the transmission strategy reduces the volume of data requiring external processing, directly reducing analysis processing time while maintaining information completeness for interesting images.
3Loss of information
If high bandwidth is provided to transmit all focus layer images, then complete data is available, but hardware costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and transmits only the necessary subset of images (those with sufficient focus quality) rather than all captured images. This extraction approach reduces the data transmission volume, allowing the use of lower bandwidth communication channels and simpler, less expensive hardware configurations while still providing complete information for all interesting images.
Solution Approach 2:
By performing focus value determination and image selection in advance within the camera, the system reduces the data volume that needs to be transmitted. This preliminary filtering action enables the use of lower-cost communication hardware with reduced bandwidth capabilities, as the transmitted data volume is already optimized to contain only interesting images.
4Quantity of substance
If focus value determination is performed in the camera, then only relevant images are transmitted, but camera processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex external processing with simpler on-camera processing by using focus value determination and threshold comparison. Instead of transmitting all images for external analysis, the camera performs lightweight computational tasks (focus calculation and threshold comparison) to identify interesting images. This substitution of processing location reduces transmitted data volume while the processing complexity remains manageable through efficient algorithms.
Data Source
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AI summary
The disclosure relates to a method and corresponding system for digital microscopy imaging comprising: capturing with a camera, a plurality of images of a position in a biological sample, wherein each image is captured at a different focal distance, and determining in the camera, a focus value for each captured image. For each captured image, the focus value of the captured image is compared with at least one threshold focus value. Upon determining that the focus value of the captured image exceeds the at least one threshold focus value, the captured image is marked as an interesting image, and transmitted from the camera to a separate computing unit.