PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of retrievable and quantitative identification of, by individual cellular tracking, a distinctive cellular event indicating a cell distinctive behavior that occurs differently from other cells in a cell population, using a non-fluorescence approach.SOLUTION: There is provided a method for qualitative identification in which an apparatus comprises: a differential interference contrast microscope including a camera, a light source, and environment chamber allowing one or more cell cultures in a cell population; an image acquisition unit for acquiring the image of the cell population in a predetermined time; a cell tracking means for tracking one or more individual cells in the cell population of the image; a distinctive cellular event detector for detecting occurence of a distinctive cellular event; and a report generator for generating a report of the distinctive cellular event selected from tripolar division (TD), tetrapolar division (QD), quadrupolar division (HD), cell fusion (CF), cell death (CD), impaired cell division (IP), cell shape alteration, nuclear shape alteration, inner cellular material accumulation, cell enlargement, engulfing, hyper-mobilization, hypo-mobilization, or prolonged doubling time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR QUANTITATIVE IDENTIFICATION OF DISTINCTIVE CELLULAR EVENT