Abstract: Method for determining microorganism growth in a biological sample likely to contain microorganisms, said biological sample being contained in an analysis container, said analysis container being subjected to an incubation of a determined duration, said method comprising: acquiring a first plurality of initial images of the analysis container at a first acquisition time T1, before or during the incubation; acquiring a second plurality of final images of the analysis container at a second acquisition time T2, during or after the incubation; realigning each initial image of the first plurality of initial images acquired, with each corresponding final image of the second plurality of final images acquired; locating at least one potential microorganism growth zone in at least one image of the second plurality of images acquired; evaluating the content of the potential microorganism growth zone identified in order to determine the presence of microorganisms.

Abstract: A method for obtaining a model of an object surface from a plurality of images of said object, wherein the object is illuminated with one or more illumination sources, the method comprising: •—obtaining a set of images each comprising an array of pixels and representing similar views of an object, wherein the similar views are obtained under different illumination conditions; •—defining a model function that expresses the known pixel intensity values of the images in terms of the following unknown model components: •—a first model component (A) representing the albedo of the object at each pixel location and being the same for the plurality of images and being an albedo value; •—a second model component (L) representing an intensity of illumination for each image and being an illumination source intensity value being the same for all pixels of each image; •—a third model component (V) representing a specific illumination direction and being different for each image and being an illumination vector and being t

Abstract: A method for determining microorganism growth in a biological sample likely to contain microorganisms, said biological sample being contained in an analysis container such as a Petri dish, said analysis container being subjected to an incubation of a determined duration, said method comprising the following steps: acquisition of a first plurality of initial images of the analysis container at a first acquisition time T1, before or during the incubation; acquisition of a second plurality of final images of the analysis container at a second acquisition time T2, during or after the incubation; realignment of each initial image of the first plurality of initial images acquired, with each corresponding final image of the second plurality of final images acquired; location of at least one potential microorganism growth zone in at least one image of the second plurality of images acquired; evaluation of the content of the potential microorganism growth zone identified in order to determine the presence of microo

Abstract: A method for correcting one or more images of an object (107) from a plurality of images of the object (107), for providing one or more corrected images of the object (107) for further use in a process for generating a representation of the surface of the object, each image of the plurality of images comprising one or more pixels and each pixel comprising a pixel value, wherein one or more illumination sources (104, 105, 106) illuminate the object with different directions of illumination, and each image is associated with a determined direction of illumination, the method comprising the steps of: for each pixel of the plurality of a first image of said plurality of images: a) selecting a pixel in the first image for obtaining the pixel value of the selected pixel; b) selecting at least one corresponding pixel in at least one image of the remaining images of the plurality of images for obtaining the pixel value of the at least one selected corresponding pixel; c) calculating at least one ratio of the pixel va

Abstract: An imaging system for generating images of biological samples having a surface, the system comprising: a sample support for supporting a biological sample in use; a plurality of illumination sources, the plurality of illumination sources being arranged around the sample support and each adapted to illuminate the biological sample, in use, from a different direction; an image capture device for capturing illumination which has impinged on the biological sample to thereby form an image of the sample; wherein at least one of the illumination sources direction is not perpendicular to the surface of the sample.

Abstract: A method for defining an isolation area around an object of interest in a cell culture vessel, the method comprising the steps of: —obtaining one or more images of the cell culture vessel using one or more of a plurality of illumination sources, each illumination source being capable of illuminating the vessel from a different direction; —selecting an image or combination of images for further processing; —applying a circular object detection transformation to identify one or more objects of interest being substantially circular objects in the cell culture vessel, which circular objects of interest are representative of isolated colonies in the cell culture vessel and determining the center of an object of interest; —applying a binarizing step to obtain a binarized image of the object of interest and other objects, wherein the center of the binarized image corresponds to the center of the object of interest; —iteratively forming concentric circles with increasing radius, wherein the concentric circles are cen

Abstract: A method for enhancing an image of a biological sample, which biological sample has been grown in a vessel on a culture medium.

Abstract: A method for obtaining a model of an object surface from a plurality of images of said object, wherein the object is illuminated with one or more illumination sources, the method comprising: —obtaining a set of images each comprising an array of pixels and representing similar views of an object, wherein the similar views are obtained under different illumination conditions; —defining a model function that expresses the known pixel intensity values of the images in terms of the following unknown model components: —a first model component (A) representing the albedo of the object at each pixel location and being the same for the plurality of images and being an albedo value; —a second model component (L) representing an intensity of illumination for each image and being an illumination source intensity value being the same for all pixels of each image; —a third model component (V) representing a specific illumination direction and being different for each image and being an illumination vector and being the sa

Abstract: A method for correcting one or more images of an object (107) from a plurality of images of the object (107), for providing one or more corrected images of the object (107) for further use in a process for generating a representation of the surface of the object, each image of the plurality of images comprising one or more pixels and each pixel comprising a pixel value, wherein one or more illumination sources (104, 105, 106) illuminate the object with different directions of illumination, and each image is associated with a determined direction of illumination, the method comprising the steps of: for each pixel of the plurality of a first image of said plurality of images: a) selecting a pixel in the first image for obtaining the pixel value of the selected pixel; b) selecting at least one corresponding pixel in at least one image of the remaining images of the plurality of images for obtaining the pixel value of the at least one selected corresponding pixel; c) calculating at least one ratio of the pixel va

Abstract: A method for defining an isolation area around an object of interest in a cell culture vessel, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining one or more images of the cell culture vessel using one or more of a plurality of illumination sources, each illumination source being capable of illuminating the vessel from a different direction; selecting an image or combination of images for further processing; applying a circular object detection transformation to identify one or more objects of interest being substantially circular objects in the cell culture vessel, which circular objects of interest are representative of isolated colonies in the cell culture vessel and determining the center of an object of interest; applying a binarizing step to obtain a binarized image of the object of interest and other objects, wherein the center of the binarized image corresponds to the center of the object of interest; iteratively forming concentric circles with increasing radius, wherein the concentric circles are centered

Abstract: An imaging system for generating images of biological samples having a surface, the system comprising: a sample support for supporting a biological sample in use; a plurality of illumination sources, the plurality of illumination sources being arranged around the sample support and each adapted to illuminate the biological sample, in use, from a different direction; an image capture device for capturing illumination which has impinged on the biological sample to thereby form an image of the sample; wherein at least one of the illumination sources direction is not perpendicular to the surface of the sample.

Abstract: A method for enhancing an image of a biological sample, which biological sample has been grown in a vessel on a culture medium.