A new false peak elimination method for poor DNA gel images analysis

In this paper, we describe the convention of threshold value in the analysis of poor DNA gel electrophoresis to eliminate false peak contained in the intensity profile obtained from image data projection. Peak detection will be performed during the common task of DNA gel image analysis which is lane detection. In this study, the peaks of the profile represent the gaps between lanes. Due to the poor quality and inconsistent pattern of the images, the detection of true peaks become a challenge to automate the analysis of the DNA gel images. To resolve the problem, a set of threshold value was applied in the peak detection process to eliminate the false peaks. Fifty images with total of 2,164 lanes suffered from various noise and artefacts were used to evaluate the proposed false peak elimination scheme. Number of lanes in individual image varies, ranging from 36 to 50 lanes. The results showed that the sensitivity and precision was 99% and the latter was 93% with an accuracy of 96%.