Automated digital light modulation microscope (DLMM) for living cell array analysis: pattern recognition and spatial alignment

The Microscale Life Sciences Center at the University of Washington is developing a suite of technologies that combine high-density cell assays and automatic platforms to achieve high-content living cell screening. The use of microfluidic cell arrays allows for the manipulation of cells and control of biochemical stimuli in parallel, making automated operation possible. However, screening the microscale cell arrays is still slow because the current imaging techniques can only observe cells sequentially and lacks feedback to control light in the interrogating regions of interest (ROI). In this paper, we report using a digital light modulation microscope (DLMM) that observes cells in the arrays in parallel so the throughput can increase dramatically. We have developed and present an algorithm to align the light modulator to the imager and to determine the ROI automatically