US 12,469,104 B2
Grain-based minerology segmentation system and method
Matthew Andrew, Livermore, CA (US); William Thompson, Torrance, CA (US); Joaquin Correa, Oakland, CA (US); Edward Hill, Cambridgeshire (GB); Benjamin Tordoff, Ulm (DE); and Richard Moralee, Cambridgeshire (GB)
Assigned to CARL ZEISS MICROSCOPY GMBH, Jena (DE)
Appl. No. 17/755,162
Filed by CARL ZEISS MICROSCOPY GMBH, Jena (DE)
PCT Filed Oct. 23, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/070691
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 22, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/081559, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 29, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/925,739, filed on Oct. 24, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0397697 A1, Dec. 15, 2022
Int. Cl. G06T 3/4046 (2024.01); G01V 8/10 (2006.01); G06F 18/214 (2023.01); G06F 18/23 (2023.01); G06V 10/82 (2022.01); G06V 20/69 (2022.01); G06V 30/24 (2022.01)
CPC G06T 3/4046 (2013.01) [G01V 8/10 (2013.01); G06F 18/214 (2023.01); G06F 18/23 (2023.01); G06V 10/82 (2022.01); G06V 20/698 (2022.01); G06V 30/2504 (2022.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of automatically identifying mineral content of a sample, the method comprising:
generating a light microscopy image of the sample;
identifying individual grains in the light microscopy image using a first clustering algorithm to identify grain boundaries on a per-pixel basis;
identifying pore spaces in the sample based on output of a second clustering algorithm that analyzes the light microscopy image on a per-pixel basis, wherein the pore spaces are filled with a polymer material that includes epoxy material that has a uniform optical signal in the light microscopy image in comparison to optical signals from the individual grains identified in the light microscopy image, wherein identifying the individual grains in the light microscopy image using the first clustering algorithm is based, at least in part, on the identified pore spaces;
classifying the identified individual grains in the light microscopy image using a third clustering algorithm; and
mapping the classified individual grains to known mineral content.