Aspects of the present invention encompass the collection of multispectral images from a population of objects, and the analysis of the collected images to measure at least one characteristic of the population, using photometric and/or morphometric features identifiable in the collection of images. In an exemplary application, the objects are biological cells. In a particularly preferred, but not limiting implementation, the plurality of images for each individual object are collected simultaneously. In an empirical study, the characteristic being measured involves the synapse between conjugated cells. The conjugated cells may represent a subpopulation of the overall population of objects that were imaged. In a particularly preferred, yet not limiting embodiment, the present invention enables the quantization of the redistribution of cellular molecules due to the conjugation of different biological cells. Significantly, such quantization is not feasible with standard microscopy and flow cytometry.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is based on a prior copending provisional application Ser. No. 60/567,911, filed on May 4, 2004, the benefit of the filing date of which is hereby claimed under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e). This application is further a continuation-in-part application of a patent application Ser. No. 10/628,662, filed on Jul. 28, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,975,400 which is a continuation application of patent application Ser. No. 09/976,257, filed on Oct. 12, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,682 (issued Aug. 19, 2003), which is a continuation-in-part application of a patent application Ser. No. 09/820,434, filed on Mar. 29, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,473,176 which is a continuation-in-part application of patent application Ser. No. 09/538,604, filed on Mar. 29, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,211,955 (issued Apr. 3, 2001), which itself is a continuation-in-part application of patent application Ser. No. 09/490,478, filed on Jan. 24, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,341 (issued Jun. 19, 2001), which is a conventional application based on provisional application Ser. No. 60/117,203, filed on Jan. 25, 1999, the benefit of the filing dates of which is hereby claimed under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 120 and 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e). Copending patent application Ser. No. 09/967,257, noted above, is also based on provisional application Ser. No. 60/240,125, filed on filed Oct. 12, 2000, the benefit of the filing date of which is hereby claimed under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e).
