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CN-122015663-A - Device for layer thickness measurement and method thereof

CN122015663ACN 122015663 ACN122015663 ACN 122015663ACN-122015663-A

Abstract

A first aspect of the present disclosure relates to an imaging device for determining a thickness of a layer included in an image, configured to obtain an image of a sample having one or more layers, obtain first estimation information from a user interface indicating a position of a first edge of the layer, obtain second estimation information from the user interface indicating a position of a second edge of the layer, determine the first edge of the layer based on the first estimation information, determine the second edge of the layer based on the second estimation information, and determine a distance between the first edge and the second edge.

Inventors

  • JIAO LINQI
  • HU BAIYANG

Assignees

  • 徕卡显微系统CMS有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20251110
Priority Date
20241112

Claims (17)

  1. 1. An imaging device for determining a thickness of a layer in an image, configured to: -acquiring an image (100) of a sample having one or more layers (112, 116, 120, 130, 134); -obtaining first estimation information (140, 142, 144) indicating the position of a first edge (122) of the layer from the user interface; -obtaining second estimation information (150, 152, 154) indicative of a position of a second edge (124) of the layer from the user interface; -determining a first edge (122) of the layer based on the first estimation information; -determining a second edge (124) of the layer based on the second estimation information, and -Determining a distance (160, 162, 164) between the first edge and the second edge.
  2. 2. The imaging device according to any of the preceding claims, Wherein the first estimation information and/or the second estimation information can comprise one or more of the following: One or more points (140), One or more lines (210), or, -One or more areas (210).
  3. 3. The imaging device according to any of the preceding claims, Wherein the estimation information can include an area (210, 212, 214, 216) provided by a brush tool on the user interface.
  4. 4. The imaging device of claim 3, configured to: -adjusting parameters of the painting tool, in particular one or more of the following: -width of brush strokes; -color of brush strokes and Opacity of the brush strokes.
  5. 5. The imaging device of any of the preceding claims, configured to: -determining an edge (122, 124) based on the first estimation information and/or the second estimation information, according to one or more of: -intensity differences within the corresponding estimated information; -spectral differences within the corresponding estimated information; -color difference in corresponding estimation information, and -A trained machine learning algorithm applied to the respective estimated information, in particular to the first estimated information and the second estimated information.
  6. 6. The imaging device of any of the preceding claims, configured to: -if the determination of the first edge and/or the second edge yields a plurality of first edge candidates or a plurality of second edge candidates, automatically determining the first edge based on the first edge candidates and/or automatically determining the second edge based on the second edge candidates.
  7. 7. The imaging device of claim 6, configured to: -determining the first and/or second edge (122, 124) as one or more of: -edge candidates having a maximum length; -determining edge candidates along which to determine maximum intensity variations, and Edge candidates along which the sum of the intensity variations is greatest.
  8. 8. The imaging device of any of the preceding claims, configured to: -if the determination of the first and/or second edge (122, 124) yields a plurality of first edge candidates or a plurality of second edge candidates: -displaying edge candidates in a user interface; -obtaining user information related to one or more edge candidates; -determining the first edge and/or the second edge based on the acquired user information.
  9. 9. The imaging device of any of the preceding claims, configured to: -dividing the first edge (122) and/or the second edge (124) into a plurality of sections (210, 212, 214, 216, 220, 222, 224, 226), and -Determining a layer distance (230, 232, 234, 236) for each section.
  10. 10. The imaging device of any of the preceding claims, configured to: Determining a plurality of distance candidates at different positions between the first edge and the second edge, and -Determining the distance as a distance candidate having the shortest distance.
  11. 11. The imaging device of claim 10, configured to: -determining a further plurality of distance candidates in the vicinity of the previously determined distance, and -Determining the second distance as a further distance candidate having the shortest distance.
  12. 12. The imaging device of any of the preceding claims, configured to: -determining a salient point at the first edge and/or the second edge, and -Determining the distance based on one or both salient points.
  13. 13. The imaging device of any of the preceding claims, configured to: -determining a centre line (310) of the layer based on the determined first and second edges (122, 124), and -Determining one or more distances (320, 322) of the layers, wherein one distance is determined as a line between two edges passing perpendicularly through the centre line.
  14. 14. The imaging device of any of the preceding claims, configured to: -determining a convex side (420) of the first edge and/or the second edge (410) and/or a convex side (420) of a portion of the first edge and/or the second edge (410), and -Determining a distance (430, 432) between opposite sides of the respective edge.
  15. 15. The imaging device of any of the preceding claims, configured to: determining a plurality of thicknesses for the layer, and -Determining one or more of the following: -maximum thickness of the layer; -a minimum thickness of the layer; -average thickness of layer, and -A parameter indicative of a variation of the thickness of the layer.
  16. 16. A computer-implemented method for determining a thickness of a layer in an image, comprising the steps of: -acquiring an image of a sample having one or more layers (100); -obtaining first estimation information (140) from the user interface indicating a position of a first edge of the layer; -obtaining second estimation information (150) from the user interface indicating a position of a second edge of the layer; -determining a first edge (122) of the layer based on the first estimation information; -determining a second edge (124) of the layer based on the second estimation information, and -Determining a distance (160) between the first edge and the second edge.
  17. 17. Computer program having a program code for performing the method according to the preceding claim when the computer program runs on a processor.

Description

Device for layer thickness measurement and method thereof Technical Field The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for thickness measurement of a sample layer and a method of operating an apparatus for thickness measurement. Background In imaging, such as microscopic analysis of a sample, the thickness of one or more layers of the sample or the thickness of one or more layers within the sample may be an important parameter. Products currently on the market require users to manually identify points between which distances are measured. These operations are time consuming and complex and may require a significant amount of manual input and user knowledge. Automatic measurement methods also exist, but these methods often measure distances that do not represent the thickness of the desired layer, as the measurement points identified by these methods are subject to error. Therefore, improvements in layer thickness measurement are desirable. Disclosure of Invention It is an object of the present disclosure to improve layer thickness measurements in imaging systems. This object is achieved by the disclosed embodiments, which are defined inter alia by the subject matter of the independent claims. The dependent claims provide information for other embodiments. Various aspects and embodiments of these aspects are also disclosed in the following summary and description, providing additional features and advantages. A first aspect of the present disclosure relates to an imaging device for determining a thickness of a layer included in an image, configured to: -acquiring an image of a sample having one or more layers; -obtaining first estimation information from the user interface indicating the position of the first edge of the layer; -obtaining second estimation information from the user interface indicating the position of the second edge of the layer; -determining a first edge of the layer based on the first estimation information; determining a second edge of the layer based on the second estimation information, and -Determining a distance between the first edge and the second edge. Obtaining an image may include receiving and/or retrieving image information related to the image. Additionally or alternatively, acquiring the image may include determining the information based on other received/retrieved information. The imaging device may be configured to inspect objects that are difficult to see by the naked eye. Examples of imaging devices may be microscopes, such as wide-field or bright-field microscopes, transmitted light microscopes, reflected light microscopes, phase contrast microscopes, and the like. The microscope also includes a macro mirror and a stereo mirror. Another example of the imaging device is an endoscope, and another example is an endoscope. The sample may be of any type that can be inspected by the imaging device and may be an organic or inorganic sample. Additionally or alternatively, the sample may include any other element or molecule. For example, the sample may be tissue or rock or be made of another material, such as plastic or metal or a compound thereof. The sample may be opaque or transparent or any state in between. The image displays corresponding edge lines due to one or more layers visible in the image taken by the imaging device, wherein two adjacent layers may be separated from each other by one of the edge lines. The user interface may be a component of the imaging device. Alternatively, the user interface may be separate from and connected to the imaging device for data transfer. In particular, the user interface may include a display configured to display an image acquired by the imaging device to a user. The user interface may have an input module through which a user can input information, such as first and second estimation information. The user interface may, for example, include one or more of a touch display, a pointing device (e.g., a computer mouse or trackball or touch pad, a computer keyboard, a stylus, etc.), an audio detection device, and/or a gesture detection device. To determine the first and second edges of one of the layers displayed in the image, the imaging device is configured to receive or obtain user input characterizing the first and second estimation information, respectively, through the user interface. For example, the user mark follows the edge and/or a shape consistent with the edge or at least one or more discrete points located on the respective edge. Additionally or alternatively, the user provides information unrelated to a single pattern in the image, i.e. based on user experience only and/or based on a plurality of imaging artifacts. By an algorithm, which may be a software module, as a component of the imaging device, the edges of the layer are determined based on the acquired first and second estimation information. The determination of the first and/or second edges may be based on interpolation as well as extrapolation of the user inf