Removal of hybridization and scanning noise from microarrays

Microarray technology for measuring gene expression values has created significant opportunities for advances in disease diagnosis and individualized treatment planning. However, the random noise introduced by the sample preparation, hybridization, and scanning stages of microarray processing creates significant inaccuracies in the gene expression levels, and hence presents a major barrier in realizing the anticipated advances. Literature presents several methodologies for noise reduction, which can be broadly categorized as: 1) model based approaches for estimation and removal of hybridization noise; 2) approaches using commonly available image denoising tools; and 3) approaches involving the need for control sample(s). In this paper, we present a novel methodology for identifying and removing hybridization and scanning noise from microarray images, using a dual-tree-complex-wavelet-transform-based multiresolution analysis coupled with bivariate shrinkage thresholding. The key features of our methodology include consideration of inherent features and type of noise specific to microarray images, and the ability to work with a single microarray without needing a control. Our methodology is first benchmarked on a fabricated dataset that mimics a real microarray probe dataset. Thereafter, our methodology is tested on datasets obtained from a number of Affymetrix GeneChip human genome HG-U133 Plus 2.0 arrays, processed on HCT-116 cell line at the Microarray Core Facility of Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute. The results indicate an appreciable improvement in the quality of the microarray data.