Digital Pathology: A Comprehensive Review of Open-Source Histological Segmentation Software

Abstract

In the era of digitalization, the biomedical sector has been affected by the spread of artificial intelligence. In recent years, the possibility of using deep and machine learning methods for clinical diagnostic and therapeutic interventions has been emerging as an essential resource for biomedical imaging. Digital pathology represents innovation in a clinical world that looks for faster and better-performing diagnostic methods, without losing the accuracy of current human-guided analyses. Indeed, artificial intelligence has played a key role in a wide variety of applications that require the analysis of a massive amount of data, including segmentation processes in medical imaging. In this context, artificial intelligence enables the improvement of image segmentation methods, moving towards the development of fully automated systems of analysis able to support pathologists in decision-making procedures. The aim of this review is to aid biologists and clinicians in discovering the most common segmentation open-source tools, including ImageJ (v. 1.54), CellProfiler (v. 4.2.5), Ilastik (v. 1.3.3) and QuPath (v. 0.4.3), along with their customized implementations. Additionally, the tools’ role in the histological imaging field is explored further, suggesting potential application workflows. In conclusion, this review encompasses an examination of the most commonly segmented tissues and their analysis through open-source deep and machine learning tools.