Methods of analyzing microscopy images using machine learning

1. A method for characterizing a population of cells, the method comprising:

a) acquiring a series of one or more images of a population of cells, wherein at least one image of the series comprises an image of one or more cells; and

b) processing the series of one or more images using a statistical or machine learning algorithm, wherein the statistical or machine learning algorithm generates a cell characterization data set that comprises a basis representation of one or more key attributes of cells within the population of cells,

wherein the statistical or machine learning algorithm comprises an unsupervised machine learning algorithm, and wherein the unsupervised machine learning algorithm comprises an artificial neural network, an association rule learning algorithm, a hierarchical clustering algorithm, a cluster analysis algorithm, a matrix factorization approach, a dimensionality reduction approach, or any combination thereof.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the series of one or more images are acquired using phase contrast microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, electron microscopy, or other super-resolution imaging technique.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing steps further comprise applying a flat-field correction algorithm, a noise removal algorithm, an aberration correction algorithm, or any combination thereof to the images in each series of images.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing steps further comprise applying one or more image processing algorithms to identify one or more regions of interest in the images of each series of images.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unsupervised machine learning algorithm is trained using a training data set that incorporates one or more constraints on cell population state.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unsupervised machine learning algorithm is trained using a training data set that incorporates nucleic acid sequencing data, gene expression profiling data, DNase I hypersensitivity assay data, or any combination thereof for one or more cells of the cell population.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein nucleic acid sequencing data or gene expression profiling data for one or more cells of the cell population is used as additional input for the statistical or machine learning algorithm.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unsupervised machine learning algorithm is continuously updated using new training data.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the new training data is drawn from a training database that resides on the internet or in the cloud.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unsupervised machine learning algorithm comprises an artificial neural network, and wherein the artificial neural network comprises an autoencoder, a stacked autoencoder, a denoising autoencoder, a variational autoencoder, a deep learning neural network, a deep belief network, or any combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising making a cell classification decision based on the cell characterization data set.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the cell characterization data set is used to (i) detect an effect of a change in environmental condition on cells of the population, (ii) detect an effect of an exposure to a chemical compound on cells of the population, or (iii) detect a disease state in cells of the population.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the cell characterization data set is of lower dimensionality than that of image data used as input for the statistical or machine learning algorithm.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the cell characterization data set comprises a representation of one or more key attributes of a single cell or of a sub-population of cells within the population.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more key attributes of the cells comprise one or more phenotypic traits, one or more genotypic traits, one or more epigenetic traits, one or more genomic traits, or any combination thereof.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more key attributes of the cells comprise one or more phenotypic traits and the one or more phenotypic traits comprise external shape, color, size, internal structure, patterns of distribution of one or more specific proteins, patterns of distribution of chromatin structure, glycosylated proteins, nucleic acid molecules, lipid molecules, glycosylated lipid molecules, carbohydrate molecules, metabolites, ions, or any combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more key attributes of the cells comprise one or more genotypic traits and the one or more genotypic traits comprise a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), an insertion mutation, a deletion mutation, a repeat sequence, or any combination thereof.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more key attributes of the cells comprise one or more genomic traits and the one or more genomic traits comprise a gene expression level, a gene activation level, a gene suppression level, a chromatin accessibility level, or any combination thereof.

19. A method for screening drug candidates, the method comprising:

a) acquiring a series of one or more images of a population of cells both before and after contacting the cells with a drug candidate, wherein at least one image of the series comprises an image of one or more cells;

b) separately processing the series of one or more images acquired before and after the contacting step using a statistical or machine learning algorithm, wherein the statistical or machine learning algorithm generates a cell characterization data set for each series that comprises a basis representation of one or more key attributes of cells within the population of cells; and

c) comparing the cell characterization data set for the population of cells after contacting with the drug candidate to that for the population of cells before contacting with the drug candidate, wherein detection of a change in the cell characterization data set indicates that the drug candidate activates or inactivates an intracellular signaling pathway that affects at least one key attribute of cells within the population of cells.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises:

d) acquiring a series of one or more images of a population of cells both before and after independently contacting the cells with a plurality of drug candidates, wherein at least one image of the series comprises an image of one or more cells;

e) separately processing the series of one or more images acquired before and after the independently contacting step for each drug candidate of the plurality of drug candidates using a statistical or machine learning algorithm, wherein the statistical or machine learning algorithm generates a cell characterization data set for each series that comprises a basis representation of one or more key attributes of cells within the population of cells;

f) comparing the cell characterization data set for the population of cells after independently contacting the cells with the plurality of drug candidates to that for the population of cells before independently contacting the cells with the plurality of drug candidates, wherein detection of a change in the cell characterization data set indicates that a drug candidate of the plurality of drug candidates activates or inactivates an intracellular signaling pathway that affects at least one key attribute of cells within the population of cells; and

g) selecting the drug candidate to be used as therapeutic drug based on a comparison of the characterization data set of the drug candidate with characterization data sets of the plurality of drug candidates.