Computer-Aided Tissue Analysis; A Major Step Forward with SIVQ

Computer-assisted image analysis will inevitably become a key component of surgical pathology. This prediction of course is predicated on the wide availability of digital pathology files and archives which is still an open issue with regard to primary diagnosis (see: Digital Pathology and the FDA; WSI Systems Called Class III Devices). Such computer analyis is already an important component of digital radiology diagnosis and case review (see: Software for Comparing Changes in Pulmonary Nodule Size on Chest X-Rays). My pathology informatics colleagues at the University of Michigan Medical School, Ulysses Balis and Jason Hipp, have been much in the news lately. They have made great progress in the development of a software tool for increasing the speed and accuracy of histology image analysis (see: U-M led team makes computer-aided tissue analysis better, faster and simpler). Below is an excerpt from the article:

[Dr. Ulysses Balis] ...is demonstrating the extreme flexibility of a software tool aimed at making the detection of abnormalities in cell and tissue samples faster, more accurate and more consistent. In a medical setting...the technique, known as Spatially-Invariant Vector Quantization (SIVQ), can pinpoint cancer cells and other critical features from digital images made from tissue slides. SIVQ isn't limited to any particular area of medicine. It can readily separate calcifications from malignancies in breast tissue samples, search for and count particular cell types in a bone marrow slide, or quickly identify the cherry-red nucleoli of cells associated with Hodgkin's disease, according to findings published in the Journal of Pathology Informatics. "The fact that the algorithm operates effortlessly across domains and length scales, while requiring minimal user training, sets it apart from conventional approaches to image analysis," Balis says. The technology...differs from conventional pattern recognition software by basing its core search on a series of concentric, pattern-matching rings, rather than the more typical rectangular or square blocks....Still, pathologists shouldn't be worried that SIVQ will put them out of a job. "No one is talking about replacing pathologists," Balis says. "But working in tandem with this technology, the hope is that they will be able to achieve a higher overall level of performance."

SIVQ can also be used with laser capture microdissection as emphasized in the recent article by Balis and Hipp with co-authors (see: SIVQ-aided laser capture microdissection: A tool for high-throughput expression profiling). For more information, point your browser to their Digital Slide Repository.

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