Mathematical morphology applied to spot segmentation and quantification of gene microarray images

DNA microarray technology is a very powerful technique used in modern biology, which is extensively used for identification of sequence (gene/gene mutation) and determination of gene expression. A typical gene microarray image consists of a few hundred to several thousand spots and the extent of hybridization of these spots determines the level of gene expression in the sample. The massive scale and variability of gene microarray data creates new challenging problems of gene clustering, feature extraction and data mining. A major issue in gene microarray data analysis is to accurately quantify spot shapes and intensities of microarray image. In this paper, we propose a method for performing accurate spot segmentation of a microarray image, using morphological image analysis techniques, followed by quantification of the shapes of the segmented spots using B-splines.