Method for analyzing biological specimens by spectral imaging
A method for analyzing biological specimens by spectral imaging to provide a medical diagnosis includes obtaining spectral and visual images of biological specimens and registering the images to detect cell abnormalities, pre-cancerous cells, and cancerous cells. This method eliminates the bias and unreliability of diagnoses that is inherent in standard histopathological and other spectral methods. In addition, a method for correcting confounding spectral contributions that are frequently observed in microscopically acquired infrared spectra of cells and tissue includes performing a phase correction on the spectral data. This phase correction method may be used to correct various types of absorption spectra that are contaminated by reflective components.
1. A method of providing a medical diagnosis, comprising:
obtaining spectroscopic data for a biological specimen;
comparing the spectroscopic data for the biological specimen to spectral data in a repository that is associated with a disease or condition;
determining whether any correlation between the spectral data and the spectroscopic data for the biological specimen exists; and
outputting a diagnosis with the disease or condition associated with the spectral data when a correlation exists between the spectral data and the spectroscopic data.
2. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the repository data is obtained from a plurality of images, and
wherein each of the plurality of images in the repository is associated with a disease or condition.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein outputting the diagnosis comprises displaying the diagnosis on a computer screen.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein outputting the diagnosis comprises storing the diagnosis electronically.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the biological specimen comprises cells or tissue.
6. A system for providing a medical diagnosis, the system comprising:
a processor;
a user interface functioning via the processor; and
a repository accessible by the processor;
wherein spectroscopic data of a biological specimen is obtained;
wherein the spectroscopic data for the biological specimen is compared to spectral data in a repository that is associated with a disease or condition;
wherein whether any correlation between the spectral data and the spectroscopic data for the biological specimen exists is determined; and
wherein a diagnosis with the disease or condition associated with the spectral data when a correlation exists between the spectral data and the spectroscopic data is output.
7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is housed on a terminal.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the terminal is selected from a group consisting of a personal computer, a minicomputer, a main frame computer, a microcomputer, a hand held device, and a telephonic device.
9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is housed on a server.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the server is selected from a group consisting of a personal computer, a minicomputer, a microcomputer, and a main frame computer.
11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the server is coupled to a network.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the network is the Internet.
13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the server is coupled to the network via a coupling.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the coupling is selected from a group consisting of a wired connection, a wireless connection, and a fiberoptic connection.
15. The system of claim 6 , wherein the repository is housed on a server.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the server is coupled to a network.
17. The system of claim 6 , wherein the repository data is obtained from a plurality of images, and
wherein each of the plurality of images in the repository is associated with a disease or condition.
18. The system of claim 6 , wherein the diagnosis is displayed on a computer screen.
19. The system of claim 6 , wherein the diagnosis is stored electronically.
20. The system of claim 6 , wherein the biological specimen comprises cells or tissue.
21. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to provide a medical diagnosis, the control logic comprising:
first computer readable program code means for obtaining spectroscopic data for a biological specimen;
second computer readable program code means for comparing the spectroscopic data for the biological specimen to spectral data in a repository that is associated with a disease or condition;
third computer readable program code means for determining whether any correlation between the spectral data and the spectroscopic data for the biological specimen exists; and
fourth computer readable program code means for outputting a diagnosis with the disease or condition associated with the spectral data when a correlation exists between the spectral data and the spectroscopic data.