An image-to-answer algorithm for fully automated digital PCR image processing

The digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) is an irreplaceable variant of PCR techniques due to its capacity for absolute quantification and detection of rare deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences in clinical samples. Image processing methods, including micro-chamber positioning and fluorescence analysis, determine the reliability of the dPCR results. However, typical methods demand high requirements for the chip structure, chip filling, and light intensity uniformity. This research developed an image-to-answer algorithm with single fluorescence image capture and known image-related error removal. We applied the Hough transform to identify partitions in the images of dPCR chips, the 2D Fourier transform to rotate the image, and the 3D projection transformation to locate and correct the positions of all partitions. We then calculated each partition's average fluorescence amplitudes and generated a 3D fluorescence intensity distribution map of the image. We subsequently corrected the fluorescence non-uniformity between partitions based on the map and achieved statistical results of partition fluorescence intensities. We validated the proposed algorithms using different contents of the target DNA. The proposed algorithm is independent of the dPCR chip structure damage and light intensity non-uniformity. It also provides a reliable alternative to analyze the results of chip-based dPCR systems.