Patent US3780223A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3780223A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Antibiotic sensitivity measurement system
Assignee: Artek Systems Corp
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Filing: 1972-08-21
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Granted: 1973-12-18
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Expires: 1992-08-21
Abstract
Abstract An antibiotic sensitivity measurement system which measures and displays the size of zones of inhibition which develop around discs of antibiotics on a microbiological diffusion assay. The system first accurately locates the actual centers of each disc by generating a search window and finding each disc from a digitized picture within the window. The system then generates a plurality of concentric circles at predetermined increments about each center until a required number of coincident points are detected between the circles and the digitized perimeter of the zones.
Inventors
- 👤 R Perry
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 17:09
CPC Classifications
C; C12; C12Q; C12Q1/00; C12Q1/02; C12Q1/18
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
246 words
A system for measuring individually the zones of inhibition surrounding a plurality of antibiotic reservoirs located in a spaced arrangement on an innoculated medium comprising: a. scanning means for viewing the medium and electronically producing a first digitized picture of the reservoirs within the medium, and a second digitized picture of the zones within the medium; b. search window generating means for producing a fixed geometric shape whose size is larger than each of said reservoirs and for superimposing said geometric shape in sequential poistions on to said first digitized picture, such that for each position a different one of said reservoirs is located within said shape; c. reservoir center finding means receiving the superimposed picture from said scanning means and said search window generating means and finding within each of said sequential positions of the geometric shape, the actual center location of the reservoirs; d. circle generating means for sequentially generating a plurality of concentric circles of predetermined incremental radii about each of said actual center locations found by said reservoir center finding means; e. comparison means receiving the second digitized picture from said scanning means and said circles from said circle generating means and comparing the points of intersection between each of said circles and the perimeter of the digitized zone for each of the zones and selecting for each zone the particular circle producing a predetermined number of points of intersection; and f. output means for displaying the selected circle and its dimensions.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
246 words
A system for measuring individually the zones of inhibition surrounding a plurality of antibiotic reservoirs located in a spaced arrangement on an innoculated medium comprising: a. scanning means for viewing the medium and electronically producing a first digitized picture of the reservoirs within the medium, and a second digitized picture of the zones within the medium; b. search window generating means for producing a fixed geometric shape whose size is larger than each of said reservoirs and for superimposing said geometric shape in sequential poistions on to said first digitized picture, such that for each position a different one of said reservoirs is located within said shape; c. reservoir center finding means receiving the superimposed picture from said scanning means and said search window generating means and finding within each of said sequential positions of the geometric shape, the actual center location of the reservoirs; d. circle generating means for sequentially generating a plurality of concentric circles of predetermined incremental radii about each of said actual center locations found by said reservoir center finding means; e. comparison means receiving the second digitized picture from said scanning means and said circles from said circle generating means and comparing the points of intersection between each of said circles and the perimeter of the digitized zone for each of the zones and selecting for each zone the particular circle producing a predetermined number of points of intersection; and f. output means for displaying the selected circle and its dimensions.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
127 words
A system as in claim 1 wherein said comparison means further comprises: a. a comparator receiving the second digitized picture from said scanning means and said circles from said circle generating means and comparing the points of intersection between each of said circles and the perimeter of the digitized zones and producing an output signal for each intersection point; b. counter means receiving said output signal and producing a signal at a predetermined count; and c. radius control means receiving said last mentioned signal from said counter means and having an output connected to said circle generating means, said radius control means producing for each zone being measured a first incremental radius value and a second decremental radius value of smaller magnitude than said first radius value.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
41 words
A system as in claim 1 wherein said output means further comprises cross hair producing means for displaying a set of orthogonal cross hairs at the actual center locations representing the selected circle and being superimposed upon the second digitized picture.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
A system as in claim 1 wherein said output means further comprises means to calibrate said system to compensate for distortions in said scanning means.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
20 words
A system as in claim 1 and further comprising a control panel for selecting the particular zone to be measured.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
114 words
A system as in claim 1 wherein said scanning means includes a raster scan video means and wherein said circle generator means further comprises: a. calculating means for producing a series of values approximating a circle as a function of rectilinear index positions: b. frequency control means connected to said calculating means for controlling the rate of occurrence of said rectilinear index positions; c. multiplication means connected to the output of said calculating means for multiplying said values by a predetermined amount; and d. radius control means connected to said frequency control means and said multiplication means for coordinating said rate of occurrence and said predetermined amount of multiplication to obtain a circular shape.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
125 words
A system as in claim 6 wherein said calculating means includes: a. memory means storing the values corresponding to each index position; and b. a first digital-to-analog converter connected to the output thereof; Wherein said frequency control means further includes: c. a first up/down counter producing said index positions and connected to said memory means; and d. an oscillator whose frequency is controllable and whose output is connected to said first counter; and Wherein said radius control means further includes: e. a second up/down counter whose adjustable count represents the radius of the desired circular shape; and f. a second digital-to-analog converter connected to said multiplication means, the output from said second up/down counter being connected to said second digital-to-analog converter and to said oscillator.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
34 words
A system as in claim 6 wherein said circle generating means further comprises shifting means for locating the arcular shape about one of the actual center locations found by said reservoir center finding means.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
95 words
A system as in claim 8 wherein said shifting means further comprises: a. counting means connected to the output of said raster scan video means and capable of counting up to the total number of horizontal scan lines in the digitized picture and producing an output signal thereat; and b. control means for presetting said counter means with a number corresponding to the vertical center coordinate of the actual center location and triggering said counter means to begin counting when said raster scan video means begins scanning the horizontal line passing through said center coordinate.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
76 words
A system as in claim 8 wherein said shifting means further comprises: a. mixing means for combining the actual center location with the circular shape; b. ramp generating means for providing a continual output value as a function of time for each horizontal scan line; and c. comparison means for comparing the value at the output of said mixing means with the output from said ramp generating means and producing a pulse at the equality thereof.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
65 words
A system as in claim 1 wherein said scanning means further comprises: a. raster scan video means focused on to the medium; b. synchronizing means connected to said raster scan video means and producing pulses identifying the horizontal and vertical position of the location being scanned; and c. video processor means receiving the output of said raster scan video means and digitizing the picture scanned.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
20 words
A system as in claim 1 wherein said video processor means includes peak detector means whose threshold can be controlled.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
77 words
A system as in claim 11 wherein said search window generating means further comprises: a. memory means containing the coordinate locations of each of the sequential positions; b. coordinate comparators for comparing the pulses produced by said synchronizing means with the coordinate locations stored in said memory means and producing an output signal at each equality; and c. horizontal and vertical pulse producing means receiving said output signal and in response thereto producing a rectangular video shApe.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
58 words
A system as in claim 11 wherein said scanning means further comprises: a. holding means for retaining the medium to be viewed; and b. lighting means connected to said holding means and having first and second states, said first state identifying the reservoirs against the medium background and said second state identifying the zones against the medium background.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
34 words
A system as in claim 14 wherein said scanning means further comprises rotation means connected to said holding means for sequentially rotating said medium into indexed positions for selectively and individually viewing said zones.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
167 words
A system as in claim 11 wherein said reservoir center finding means further comprises: a. gate means receiving the geometric shape from the search window generating means for each sequential position, and receiving the first digitized picture from said scanning means, and for each of said positions passing only that portion of the scan lines of the first digitized picture which are within the search window to that position; b. pulse width discriminator means receiving the scan line output from said gate means and passing only that portion of each scan line whose length is greater than a predetermined length; c. counting means receiving the output of said pulse width discriminator means for counting the number of consecutive scan lines passing through said discriminator and producing an output signal when a predetermined number if reached; and d. computing means receiving said output signal and on the horizontal scan line which produced the output signal, calculating the actual coordinate center using a fixed value of the reservoir radius.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
68 words
A system as in claim 16 wherein said reservoir center finding means further includes: a. defeat means connected to said counting means and responsive to the lack of any output signal therefrom for an entire position; and b. storage means connected to said computing means and said defeat means for storing with the actual coordinate center for each reservoir found and the absence of any reservoir not found.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
87 words
In a raster scan video system, means for generating a circle comprising: first means for generating a series of values as a function of frequency; second means connected to said first means for converting said frequency values into a series of time dependent values; third means connected to said second means for multiplying said time dependent values by a fixed amount; and fourth means connected to said first and third means for coordinating the frequency value and the fixed amount to suitably proportion a circle being produced.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
87 words
In a raster scan video system, means for generating a circle comprising: first means for generating a series of values as a function of frequency; second means connected to said first means for converting said frequency values into a series of time dependent values; third means connected to said second means for multiplying said time dependent values by a fixed amount; and fourth means connected to said first and third means for coordinating the frequency value and the fixed amount to suitably proportion a circle being produced.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
113 words
A system as in claim 18 wherein said second means further comprises calculating means for producing a series of values approximating a circle as a function of rectilinear index positions: said first means further includes frequency control means connected to said calculating means for controlling the rate of occurrence of said rectilinear index positions; said third means further includes multiplication means connected to the output of said calculating means for multiplying said values by a predetermined amount; and said fourth means further comprises radius control means connected to said frequency control means and said multiplication means for coordinating said rate of occurrence and said predetermined amount of multiplication to obtain a circular shape.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
206 words
In a system for measuring individually the zones of inhibition surrounding a plurality of antibiotic reservoirs located in a spaced arrangement in an innoculated medium, the method comprising: a. scanning the medium and electronically producing a first digitized picture of the reservoirs within the medium; b. generating a search window whose size is larger than each of said reservoirs; c. superimposing said search window on to said first digitized picture in sequential positions, such that a different one of said reservoirs is located within said shape foR each position; d. finding the center of the reservoir for each position within the search window generated; e. again scanning the medium and electronically producing a second digitized picture of the zones within the medium; f. generating a plurality of concentric circles of predetermined incremental value about each of said center locations found; g. comparing a zone from the second digitized picture with each of the circles produced for that zone center; h. determining the points of intersection between each of the circles and the perimeter of the digitized zones for the zone involved; i. selecting for each zone the particular circle producing a predetermined number of points of intersection; and j. displaying the selected circle and its dimensions.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
206 words
In a system for measuring individually the zones of inhibition surrounding a plurality of antibiotic reservoirs located in a spaced arrangement in an innoculated medium, the method comprising: a. scanning the medium and electronically producing a first digitized picture of the reservoirs within the medium; b. generating a search window whose size is larger than each of said reservoirs; c. superimposing said search window on to said first digitized picture in sequential positions, such that a different one of said reservoirs is located within said shape foR each position; d. finding the center of the reservoir for each position within the search window generated; e. again scanning the medium and electronically producing a second digitized picture of the zones within the medium; f. generating a plurality of concentric circles of predetermined incremental value about each of said center locations found; g. comparing a zone from the second digitized picture with each of the circles produced for that zone center; h. determining the points of intersection between each of the circles and the perimeter of the digitized zones for the zone involved; i. selecting for each zone the particular circle producing a predetermined number of points of intersection; and j. displaying the selected circle and its dimensions.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-12-17 | 1977-06-18 | 1977-12-18 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-12-17 | 1981-06-18 | 1981-12-18 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-12-17 | 1985-06-18 | 1985-12-18 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |