Colour model analysis for microscopic image processing

This article presents a comparative study between different colour models (RGB, HSI and CIEL*a*b*) applied to a very large microscopic image analysis. Such analysis of different colour models is needed in order to carry out a successful detection and therefore a classification of different regions of interest (ROIs) within the image. This, in turn, allows both distinguishing possible ROIs and retrieving their proper colour for further ROI analysis. This analysis is not commonly done in many biomedical applications that deal with colour images. Other important aspects is the computational cost of the different processing algorithms according to the colour model. This work takes these aspects into consideration to choose the best colour model tailored to the microscopic stain and tissue type under consideration and to obtain a successful processing of the histological image

Reading virtual slide using web viewers: results of subjective experience with three different solutions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Virtual slides are viewed using interactive software that enables the user to simulate the behaviour of a conventional optical microscope, like adjusting magnifications and navigating to any portion of the image. Nowadays, information about the performance and features of web-based solutions for reading slides in real environments is still scarce. The objective of this study is analyzing the subjective experience of pathologists with virtual slides, comparing the time needed to read slides using different web viewers and different network connections.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eight slides were randomly selected (4 biopsies and 2 cytologies) from Hospital General de Ciudad Real (HGCR) archives. Three different virtual slide web-viewing solutions were analyzed: Aperio web server, Olympus NetImage Server, and Aurora mScope. Five pathologists studied to time needed to access images of each virtual slide, selecting a panoramic view, 10 low magnification fields, and 20 high magnification fields.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Aperio viewer is very efficient in overview images. Aurora viewer is especially efficient in lower magnifications (10×). For larger magnifications (20× and 40×) no significant differences were found between different vendors. Olympus was found to be the most user-friendly interface. When comparing Internet with intranet connections, despite being slower, users also felt comfortable using virtual slides through Internet connection.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Available web solutions for virtual slides have different advantages, mainly in functionalities and optimization for different magnifications. Pathologist should select the solutions adapted to their needs.</p

Translational Applications of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Diagnostic Pathology in Lymphoid Neoplasms: A Comprehensive and Evolutive Analysis

Genomic analysis and digitalization of medical records have led to a big data scenario within hematopathology. Artificial intelligence and machine learning tools are increasingly used to integrate clinical, histopathological, and genomic data in lymphoid neoplasms. In this study, we identified global trends, cognitive, and social framework of this field from 1990 to 2020. Metadata were obtained from the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science database in January 2021. A total of 525 documents were assessed by document type, research areas, source titles, organizations, and countries. SciMAT and VOSviewer package were used to perform scientific mapping analysis. Geographical distribution showed the USA and People’s Republic of China as the most productive countries, reporting up to 190 (36.19%) of all documents. A third-degree polynomic equation predicts that future global production in this area will be three-fold the current number, near 2031. Thematically, current research is focused on the integration of digital image analysis and genomic sequencing in Non-Hodgkin lymphomas, prediction of chemotherapy response and validation of new prognostic models. These findings can serve pathology departments to depict future clinical and research avenues, but also, public institutions and administrations to promote synergies and optimize funding allocation.Andalusia Health System - RH-0145-2020EU FEDER ITI Grant for Cadiz Province PI-0032-201

TMA Vessel Segmentation Based on Color and Morphological Features: Application to Angiogenesis Research

Given that angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis are strongly related to prognosis in neoplastic and other pathologies and that many methods exist that provide different results, we aim to construct a morphometric tool allowing us to measure different aspects of the shape and size of vascular vessels in a complete and accurate way. The developed tool presented is based on vessel closing which is an essential property to properly characterize the size and the shape of vascular and lymphatic vessels. The method is fast and accurate improving existing tools for angiogenesis analysis. The tool also improves the accuracy of vascular density measurements, since the set of endothelial cells forming a vessel is considered as a single object

Prognostic Role of the Expression of Latent-Membrane Protein 1 of Epstein-Barr Virus in Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma

The prognostic impact of the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is controversial. Previous studies reported heterogeneous results, rendering difficult the clinical validation of EBV as a prognostic biomarker in this lymphoma. The objective of this study was to evaluate the survival impact of the expression of EBV Latent-Membrane Protein 1 (EBV-LMP1) in tumoral Hodgkin-Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells of primary diagnostic samples of cHL. Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) lymph node samples from 88 patients with cHL were analyzed. Patients were treated with the standard first-line chemotherapy (CT) with Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine and Dacarbazine (ABVD) followed by radiotherapy. The Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model were used for carrying out the survival analysis. In order to investigate whether the influence of EBV was age-dependent, analyses were performed both for patients of all ages and for age-stratified subgroups. In bivariate analysis, the expression of EBV was associated with older age (p = 0.011), mixed cellularity subtype cHL (p < 0.001) and high risk International Prognostic Score (IPS) (p = 0.023). Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were associated with the presence of bulky disease (p = 0.009) and advanced disease at diagnosis (p = 0.016). EBV-positive cases did not present a significantly lower OS and PFS in comparison with EBV-negative cases, for all ages and when stratifying for age. When adjusted for covariates, absence of bulky disease at diagnosis (HR: 0.102, 95% CI: 0.02-0.48, p = 0.004) and limited disease stages (I-II) (HR: 0.074, 95% CI: 0.01-0.47, p = 0.006) were associated with a significant better OS. For PFS, limited-disease stages also retained prognostic impact in the multivariate Cox regression (HR: 0.145, 95% CI: 0.04-0.57, p = 0.006). These results are of importance as the early identification of prognostic biomarkers in cHL is critical for guiding and personalizing therapeutic decisions. The prognostic role of EBV in cHL could be modulated by the type of CT protocol employed and interact with the rest of presenting features

Cloud Computing en salud: Sistema para Administrar Imagenes Biomedicas

En el campo de la biomedicina se genera una inmensa cantidad de imágenes diariamente. Para administrarlas es necesaria la creación de sistemas informáticos robustos y ágiles, que necesitan gran cantidad de recursos computacionales. El presente artículo presenta un servicio de cloud computing capaz de manejar grandes colecciones de imágenes biomédicas. Gracias a este servicio organizaciones y usuarios podrían administrar sus imágenes biomédicas sin necesidad de poseer grandes recursos informáticos. El servicio usa un sistema distribuido multi agente donde las imágenes son procesadas y se extraen y almacenan en una estructura de datos las regiones que contiene junto con sus características. Una característica novedosa del sistema es que una misma imagen puede ser dividida, y las sub-imágenes resultantes pueden ser almacenadas por separado por distintos agentes. Esta característica ayuda a mejorar el rendimiento del sistema a la hora de buscar y recuperar las imágenes almacenadas

Compositional and structural analysis of engineered stones and inorganic particles in silicotic nodules of exposed workers

Background Engineered stone silicosis is an emerging disease in many countries worldwide produced by the inhalation of respirable dust of engineered stone. This silicosis has a high incidence among young workers, with a short latency period and greater aggressiveness than silicosis caused by natural materials. Although the silica content is very high and this is the key factor, it has been postulated that other constituents in engineered stones can influence the aggressiveness of the disease. Different samples of engineered stone countertops (fabricated by workers during the years prior to their diagnoses), as well as seven lung samples from exposed patients, were analyzed by multiple techniques. Results The different countertops were composed of SiO2 in percentages between 87.9 and 99.6%, with variable relationships of quartz and cristobalite depending on the sample. The most abundant metals were Al, Na, Fe, Ca and Ti. The most frequent volatile organic compounds were styrene, toluene and m-xylene, and among the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phenanthrene and naphthalene were detected in all samples. Patients were all males, between 26 and 46 years-old (average age: 36) at the moment of the diagnosis. They were exposed to the engineered stone an average time of 14 years. At diagnosis, only one patient had progressive massive fibrosis. After a follow-up period of 8 +/- 3 years, four patients presented progressive massive fibrosis. Samples obtained from lung biopsies most frequently showed well or ill-defined nodules, composed of histiocytic cells and fibroblasts without central hyalinization. All tissue samples showed high proportion of Si and Al at the center of the nodules, becoming sparser at the periphery. Al to Si content ratios turned out to be higher than 1 in two of the studied cases. Correlation between Si and Al was very high (r = 0.93). Conclusion Some of the volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and metals detected in the studied countertop samples have been described as causative of lung inflammation and respiratory disease. Among inorganic constituents, aluminum has been a relevant component within the silicotic nodule, reaching atomic concentrations even higher than silicon in some cases. Such concentrations, both for silicon and aluminum showed a decreasing tendency from the center of the nodule towards its frontier

Peritumoral immune infiltrates in primary tumours are not associated with the presence of axillary lymph node metastasis in breast cancer: a retrospective cohort study

Background. The axillary lymph nodes (ALNs) in breast cancer patients are the body regions to where tumoral cells most often first disseminate. The tumour immune response is important for breast cancer patient outcome, and some studies have evaluated its involvement in ALN metastasis development. Most studies have focused on the intratumoral immune response, but very few have evaluated the peritumoral immune response. The aim of the present article is to evaluate the immune infiltrates of the peritumoral area and their association with the presence of ALN metastases. Methods. The concentration of 11 immune markers in the peritumoral areas was studied in 149 patients diagnosed with invasive breast carcinoma of no special type (half of whom had ALN metastasis at diagnosis) using tissue microarrays, immunohistochemistry and digital image analysis procedures. The differences in the concentration of the immune response of peritumoral areas between patients diagnosed with and without metastasis in their ALNs were evaluated. A multivariate logistic regression model was developed to identify the clinical-pathological variables and the peritumoral immune markers independently associated with having or not having ALN metastases at diagnosis. Results. No statistically significant differences were found in the concentrations of the 11 immune markers between patients diagnosed with or without ALN metastases. Patients with metastases in their ALNs had a higher histological grade, more lymphovascular and perineural invasion and larger-diameter tumours. The multivariate analysis, after validation by bootstrap simulation, revealed that only tumour diameter (OR = 1.04; 95% CI [1.00-1.07]; p = 0.026), lymphovascular invasion (OR = 25.42; 95% CI [9.57-67.55]; p<0.001) and histological grades 2 (OR = 3.84; 95% CI [1.11-13.28]; p = 0.033) and 3 (OR = 5.18; 95% CI [1.40-19.17]; p = 0.014) were associated with the presence of ALN metastases at diagnosis. This study is one of the first to study the association of the peritumoral immune response with ALN metastasis. We did not find any association of peritumoral immune infiltrates with the presence of ALN metastasis. Nevertheless, this does not rule out the possibility that other peritumoral immune populations are associated with ALN metastasis. This matter needs to be examined in greater depth, broadening the types of peritumoral immune cells studied, and including new peritumoral areas, such as the germinal centres of the peritumoral tertiary lymphoid structures found in extensively infiltrated neoplastic lesions