Measuring volume and constituents of cells

1. A method of determining a volume of a platelet, the method comprising:

(a) illuminating the platelet with incident light at a plurality of illumination wavelengths;

(b) obtaining at least one two-dimensional image of the platelet corresponding to each illumination wavelength;

(c) for each illumination wavelength, determining a mean optical density and a maximum optical density for the platelet;

(d) determining an area of the platelet;

(e) for each illumination wavelength, determining a volume of the platelet based on the area of the platelet and the mean optical density and maximum optical density for the platelet corresponding to the illumination wavelength;

(f) for each illumination wavelength, determining an integrated optical density for the platelet based on the area of the platelet and the mean optical density for the platelet corresponding to the illumination wavelength; and

(g) determining the volume of the platelet based on a weighted combination of the area of the platelet, the volumes of the platelet corresponding to each of the illumination wavelengths, and the integrated optical densities for the platelet corresponding to each of the illumination wavelengths.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the volume of the platelet at each illumination wavelength based on a ratio of the mean optical density to the maximum optical density corresponding to the illumination wavelength.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of illumination wavelengths comprises at least three illumination wavelengths.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of illumination wavelengths comprises at least four illumination wavelengths.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the volume of the platelet at each illumination wavelength based on a ratio of the mean optical density to a sum of the maximum optical density and a correction factor at the illumination wavelength.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying a set of pixels in each image of the platelet that corresponds to the platelet.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

repeating steps (a) through (g) for a plurality of platelets from a sample of blood to determine volumes for each of the plurality of platelets; and

determining a mean platelet volume for the sample from the volumes for each of the plurality of platelets.

8. The method of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of illumination wavelengths comprises at least one wavelength between 575 nm and 600 nm, at least one wavelength between 525 nm and 570 nm, and at least one wavelength between 400 nm and 475 nm.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of illumination wavelengths comprises at least one wavelength between 620 nm and 750 nm, at least one wavelength between 575 nm and 600 nm, at least one wavelength between 525 nm and 570 nm, and at least one wavelength between 400 nm and 475 nm.

10. The method of claim 5 , further comprising adding an offset value to the ratio of the mean optical density to the sum of the maximum optical density and the correction factor to determine the volume of the platelet at each illumination wavelength.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining values of the correction factor and the offset value from a reference set of blood samples.

12. The method of claim 6 , wherein identifying the set of pixels comprises:

identifying a first set of pixels that corresponds to a central region of the platelet;

identifying a second set of pixels that corresponds to a non-central region of the platelet; and

merging the first and second sets of pixels to form the set of pixels that corresponds to the platelet.

13. The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining the area of the platelet based on the set of pixels.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising identifying the second set of pixels based on intensity values for each member of the set of pixels in at least two images corresponding to different illumination wavelengths.

15. The method of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of illumination wavelengths comprises an illumination wavelength in a blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum and an illumination wavelength in a yellow region of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the method comprises, for each respective platelet of the plurality of platelets, obtaining an image of the respective platelet corresponding to the illumination wavelength in the blue region and an image of the respective platelet corresponding to the illumination wavelength in the yellow region.

16. A method of assessing an operating condition of an automated blood analysis device, the method comprising:

operating the device so that the device uses the method of claim 7 to determine a mean platelet volume for a control composition; and

comparing a reference value of the mean platelet volume for the control composition to the determined value of the mean platelet volume to assess the operating condition of the device.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising, for each respective platelet, excluding the respective platelet from the determination of the mean platelet volume if an integrated optical density for the respective platelet in the image corresponding to the illumination wavelength in the yellow region is larger than 600.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising, for each respective platelet, excluding the respective platelet from the determination of the mean platelet volume if an integrated optical density for the respective platelet in the image corresponding to the illumination wavelength in the blue region is larger than 200.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

determining a difference between the determined and reference values of the mean platelet volume for the control composition; and

re-calibrating the device if the difference exceeds a threshold value.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein re-calibrating the device comprises determining, from a reference set of blood samples, a plurality of weight coefficients that are used to determine the mean platelet volume for the sample based on the areas of the plurality of platelets, the volumes of the plurality of platelets corresponding to each of the illumination wavelengths, and the integrated optical densities for the plurality of platelets corresponding to each of the illumination wavelengths.

21. A system for determining a volume of a platelet, the system comprising:

an illumination source configured to illuminate the platelet with incident light at a plurality of illumination wavelengths;

a detector configured to obtain at least one two-dimensional image of the platelet corresponding to each illumination wavelength; and

an electronic processor configured to:

(a) determine a mean optical density and a maximum optical density for the platelet at each illumination wavelength;

(b) determine an area of the platelet;

(c) for each illumination wavelength, determine a volume of the platelet based on the area of the platelet and the mean optical density and maximum optical density for the platelet corresponding to the illumination wavelength;

(d) for each illumination wavelength, determine an integrated optical density for the platelet based on the area of the platelet and the mean optical density for the platelet corresponding to the illumination wavelength; and

(e) determine the volume of the platelet based on a weighted combination of the area of the platelet, the volumes of the platelet corresponding to each of the illumination wavelengths, and the integrated optical densities for the platelet corresponding to each of the illumination wavelengths.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of illumination wavelengths comprises at least one wavelength between 575 nm and 600 nm, at least one wavelength between 525 nm and 570 nm, and at least one wavelength between 400 nm and 475 nm.

23. The system of claim 21 , further comprising an automated blood sample preparation system.

24. The system of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of illumination wavelengths comprises at least three illumination wavelengths.

25. The system of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of illumination wavelengths comprises at least four illumination wavelengths.

26. The system of claim 21 , wherein the electronic processor is further configured to determine the volume of the platelet at each illumination wavelength based on a ratio of the mean optical density to the maximum optical density corresponding to the illumination wavelength.

27. The system of claim 21 , wherein the electronic processor is further configured to identify a set of pixels in each image of the platelet that corresponds to the platelet.

28. The system of claim 21 , wherein the electronic processor is further configured to:

repeat steps (a) through (e) for a plurality of platelets from a sample of blood to determine volumes for each of the plurality of platelets; and

determine a mean platelet volume for the sample from the volumes for each of the plurality of platelets.

29. The system of claim 25 , wherein the plurality of illumination wavelengths comprises at least one wavelength between 620 nm and 750 nm, at least one wavelength between 575 nm and 600 nm, at least one wavelength between 525 nm and 570 nm, and at least one wavelength between 400 nm and 475 nm.

30. The system of claim 26 , wherein the electronic processor is further configured to add an offset value to the ratio of the mean optical density to the sum of the maximum optical density and the correction factor to determine the volume of the platelet at each illumination wavelength.

31. The system of claim 30 , wherein the electronic processor is further configured to determine values of the correction factor and the offset value from a reference set of blood samples.

32. The system of claim 27 , wherein the electronic processor is further configured to:

identify a first set of pixels that corresponds to a central region of the platelet;

identify a second set of pixels that corresponds to a non-central region of the platelet; and

merge the first and second sets of pixels to form the set of pixels that corresponds to the platelet.

33. The system of claim 32 , wherein the electronic processor is further configured to identify the second set of pixels based on intensity values for each member of the set of pixels in at least two images corresponding to different illumination wavelengths.

34. The system of claim 28 , wherein the sample is a control composition, and wherein the electronic processor is further configured to:

determine a mean platelet volume for the control composition; and

compare a reference value of the mean platelet volume for the control composition to the determined value of the mean platelet volume to assess an operating condition of a device that comprises the system.

35. The system of claim 28 , wherein the plurality of illumination wavelengths comprises an illumination wavelength in a blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum and an illumination wavelength in a yellow region of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the electronic processor is further configured to obtain, for each respective platelet of the plurality of platelets, an image of the respective platelet corresponding to the illumination wavelength in the blue region and an image of the respective platelet corresponding to the illumination wavelength in the yellow region.

36. The system of claim 34 , wherein the electronic processor is further configured to:

determine a difference between the determined and reference values of the mean platelet volume for the control composition; and

re-calibrate the device if the difference exceeds a threshold value.

37. The system of claim 36 , wherein the electronic processor is further configured to re-calibrate the device by determining, from a reference set of blood samples, a plurality of weight coefficients that are used to determine the mean platelet volume for the sample based on the areas of the plurality of platelets, the volumes of the plurality of platelets corresponding to each of the illumination wavelengths, and the integrated optical densities for the plurality of platelets corresponding to each of the illumination wavelengths.

38. The system of claim 35 , wherein for each respective platelet, the electronic processor is further configured to exclude the respective platelet from the determination of the mean platelet volume if an integrated optical density for the respective platelet in the image corresponding to the illumination wavelength in the yellow region is larger than 600.

39. The system of claim 35 , wherein for each respective platelet, the electronic processor is further configured to exclude the respective platelet from the determination of the mean platelet volume if an integrated optical density for the respective platelet in the image corresponding to the illumination wavelength in the blue region is larger than 200.

40. The system of claim 27 , wherein the electronic processor is further configured to determine the area of the platelet based on the set of pixels.