Granted Patent B2

US 12,592,090 · App. 17/904,842 · Granted Mar 31, 2026

Inventors: Thanh Q. Tran (Blaine, MN); Hugh E. Watson (Prior Lake, MN); Jitesh N. Joshi (Gujarat, IN); Rinkeshkumar B. Patel (Woodbury, MN)

Assignee: NEOGEN FOOD SAFETY US HOLDCO CORPORATION

G06V20/693C12M41/36G06V10/141G06V10/143G06V10/25G06V10/50

Abstract

Claims (105)

1 . A method, comprising:

determining an area of interest on a growth media using an imaging device; wherein said imaging device is configured to capture an image for automated detection and enumeration;

wherein said imaging device is configured to calculate an overall brightness control value for a plurality of illumination sources configured to illuminate the growth media, the overall brightness control value generating at least one image that substantially matches a target intensity at the area of interest;

wherein said imaging device is configured to calculate an individual brightness value for each illumination source of the plurality of illumination sources based on the overall brightness control value by individually adjusting a brightness of each illumination source to generate at least one image that substantially matches the target intensity in each respective illumination source's area of influence; and

wherein said imaging device is configured to determine a calibrated brightness value for each illumination source based on an image intensity with each illumination source turned on at the respective individual brightness value and an intensity that each illumination source generates within each respective area of influence when turned on alone;

wherein said imaging device is configured to capture a plurality of images of the area of interest at the calibrated brightness value and average pixel intensities of each image;

wherein calculating the overall the brightness control value comprises:

adjusting a brightness of all illumination sources of the plurality of illumination sources simultaneously to a brightness below the target intensity;

iteratively capturing a plurality of images of the area of interest at increasing brightness levels starting at the brightness below the target intensity;

computing mean intensities for each captured image; and

determining the overall brightness control value based on the mean;

wherein calculating the individual brightness values comprises:

for each illumination source of the plurality of illumination source:

iteratively capturing a plurality of images of the area of interest at increasing brightness levels starting below the overall brightness control value;

computing mean intensities for each captured image; and

determining the individual brightness value based on the mean; and

wherein determining the calibrated brightness value comprises:

calculating a difference between the target intensity value and an image intensity at each individual brightness value;

calculate a percent change value of each individual brightness value to compensate for the difference;

capturing a plurality of images of the area of interest;

computing mean intensities for each captured image; and

determining the calibrated brightness value based on the mean and the percent change values.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising completing the steps of claim 1 for each spectra of a plurality of spectra.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a pixel histogram of the intensities of each image at each of a plurality of brightness values based on the plurality of images;

determining a mean and a peak of the pixel histogram; and

adjusting the calibrated brightness value based on at least one of the mean and the peak of the pixel histogram.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising calculating at least one of the overall brightness control value and the individual brightness values using one or more of linear regression, 2 nd order curve fitting, multi-point averaging, and curve smoothing.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the area of interest comprises a region of bacterial growth.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

computing a normalization factor using a flat field normalization process; and

adjusting the calibrated brightness value based on the normalization factor.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the flat field normalization process comprises:

capturing a monochrome image using the calibrated brightness value of each spectra of a plurality of spectra; and

computing the normalization factor for each of the spectra using the monochrome image.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

for each illumination source of the plurality of illumination source:

capturing at least one image with the illumination source turned on; and

determining an area of influence by determining an area of the image in which an image intensity is a threshold percentage of the target intensity.

9 . A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing computer program instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

determine an area of interest on a growth media using said processor;

wherein said processor is configured to calculate an overall brightness control value for a plurality of illumination sources configured to illuminate the growth media, the overall brightness control value generating at least one image that substantially matches a target intensity at the area of interest;

wherein said processor is configured to calculate an individual brightness value for each illumination source of the plurality of illumination sources based on the overall brightness control value by individually adjusting a brightness of each illumination source to generate at least one image that substantially matches the target intensity in each respective illumination source's area of influence; and

wherein said processor is configured to determine a calibrated brightness value for each illumination source based on an image intensity with each illumination source turned on at the respective individual brightness value and an intensity that each illumination source generates within each respective area of influence when turned on alone;

wherein said imaging device is configured to capture a plurality of images of the area of interest at the calibrated brightness value and average pixel intensities of each image;

wherein calculating the overall the brightness control value comprises:

adjusting a brightness of all illumination sources of the plurality of illumination sources simultaneously to a brightness below the target intensity;

iteratively capturing a plurality of images of the area of interest at increasing brightness levels starting at the brightness below the target intensity;

computing mean intensities for each captured image; and

determining the overall brightness control value based on the mean;

wherein calculating the individual brightness values comprises:

for each illumination source of the plurality of illumination source:

iteratively capturing a plurality of images of the area of interest at increasing brightness levels starting below the overall brightness control value;

computing mean intensities for each captured image; and

determining the individual brightness value based on the mean; and

wherein determining the calibrated brightness value comprises:

calculating a difference between the target intensity value and an image intensity at each individual brightness value;

calculate a percent change value of each individual brightness value to compensate for the difference;

capturing a plurality of images of the area of interest;

computing mean intensities for each captured image; and

determining the calibrated brightness value based on the mean and the percent change values.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the illumination source comprises one or more of a light emitting diode (LED), an incandescent device, and a fluorescent device.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

capture a plurality of images of the area of interest at the calibrated brightness value;

generate a pixel histogram of the intensities of each image at each of a plurality of brightness values based on the plurality of images; and

determine a mean and a peak of the pixel histogram.

12 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to calculate at least one of the overall brightness control value and the individual brightness values using linear regression.

13 . The system of claim 9 , wherein calculating the overall the brightness control value comprises:

adjusting a brightness of all illumination sources of the plurality of illumination sources simultaneously to a brightness below the target intensity;

iteratively capturing a plurality of images of the area of interest at increasing brightness levels starting at the brightness below the target intensity;

computing mean intensities for each captured image; and

determining the overall brightness control value based on the mean.

14 . The system of claim 9 , wherein calculating the individual brightness values comprises:

for each illumination source of the plurality of illumination source:

iteratively capturing a plurality of images of the area of interest at increasing brightness levels starting below the overall brightness control value;

computing mean intensities for each captured image; and

determining the individual brightness value based on the mean.

15 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the area of interest comprises a region of bacterial growth.

16 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

compute a normalization factor using a flat field normalization process; and

adjust the calibrated brightness value based on the normalization factor.

17 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer program instructions for designing microstructures, the computer program instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

determining an area of interest on a growth media using said processor;

wherein said processor is configured to calculate an overall brightness control value for a plurality of illumination sources configured to illuminate the growth media, the overall brightness control value generating at least one image that substantially matches a target intensity at the area of interest;

wherein said processor is configured to calculate an individual brightness value for each illumination source of the plurality of illumination sources based on the overall brightness control value by individually adjusting a brightness of each illumination source to generate at least one image that substantially matches the target intensity in each respective illumination source's area of influence; and

wherein said processor is configured to determine a calibrated brightness value for each illumination source based on an image intensity with each illumination source turned on at the respective individual brightness value and an intensity that each illumination source generates within each respective area of influence when turned on alone;

wherein said imaging device is configured to capture a plurality of images of the area of interest at the calibrated brightness value and average pixel intensities of each image;

wherein calculating the overall the brightness control value comprises:

adjusting a brightness of all illumination sources of the plurality of illumination sources simultaneously to a brightness below the target intensity;

iteratively capturing a plurality of images of the area of interest at increasing brightness levels starting at the brightness below the target intensity;

computing mean intensities for each captured image; and

determining the overall brightness control value based on the mean;

wherein calculating the individual brightness values comprises:

for each illumination source of the plurality of illumination source:

iteratively capturing a plurality of images of the area of interest at increasing brightness levels starting below the overall brightness control value;

computing mean intensities for each captured image; and

determining the individual brightness value based on the mean; and

wherein determining the calibrated brightness value comprises:

calculating a difference between the target intensity value and an image intensity at each individual brightness value;

calculate a percent change value of each individual brightness value to compensate for the difference;

capturing a plurality of images of the area of interest;

computing mean intensities for each captured image; and

determining the calibrated brightness value based on the mean and the percent change values.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (17)