An Overview of DNA Microarray Image Requirements for Automated Processing

We present an overview of DNA microarray image requirements for automated processing and information extraction from spotted glass slides. Motivation of our review comes from the need to automate high-throughput microarray data processing due to exponentially growing amounts of microarray data. In order to automate microarray image processing and draw biologically meaningful conclusions from experiments, one has to understand the processing flow, modeling assumptions, uncertainties involved, and the computational tradeoffs of multiple approaches. We present a model of an ideal microarray image and microarray deviations from the model in real experiments. In the summary, we discuss several open problems and the current challenges of high-throughput microarray image processing.