1. A method of conducting an assay and analyzing results therefrom at separate locations, comprising: conducting an assay on a patient sample by contacting a uniquely encoded array of receptors with the patient sample and determining if the patient sample comprises any ligands that interact with the receptors by analyzing an assay image for optical signatures that are associated with receptor-ligand interactions, recording the assay image in a first processor, and decoding the array with a second processor at a location other than the location at which the assay is conducted, wherein the first and second processors communicate by way of a data network, wherein the array is decoded by segmenting an image of the array, wherein information about the array geometry is known, said segmenting comprising creating a reference grid based on a brightfield image of the array such that each individual field of the grid includes a single object and the outer dimension of the grid corresponds to the dimensions of the array, and calculating an optical signal for each individual grid field, wherein the signal is characteristic of the object contained in said field.