Chromosome classification for metaphase selection

Abstract

Identification of good metaphase spread is an important step in chromosome analysis for genetic disorder detection. In this paper, we propose a rule for chromosome classification to identify good metaphase spreads. The chromosome shapes were classified into four main classes. The first and the second classes refer to individual chromosomes with straight and bended shapes, respectively. The third class is characterized as those chromosomes with overlapping bodies and the forth class is for the non-chromosomal artifacts. Good metaphase spreads should largely contain the first and the second classes while the number of the third class should be kept minimal. Several image parameters were examined and used for creating rule-based classification. The threshold value for each parameter is determined using statistical model. We observed that the empirical probability density function of the parameters can be represented by Gaussian model and, hence, the threshold value can be easily determined. The proposed rules can efficiently and accurately classify the individual chromosome with > 90% accuracy.