Wavelets as chromatin texture descriptors for the automated identification of neoplastic nuclei

Abstract

SummaryChromatin distribution re¯ects the organization of the DNA of a nucleus and contains important cellular diagnostic and prognostic information. Feulgen staining of breast tissue enables the chromatin distribution of the nucleus to be visualized in the form of texture. Describing texture in an objective and quantitative way by means of a set of texture parameters, combined with the study of the relationship of such parameters to the pathobiological cell properties, is useful both for reduction of the subjectivity inherently coupled to visual observation and for more accurate prognosis or diagnosis.We have presented an automated classi®cation scheme for the diagnosis and grading of invasive breast cancer. The input to this scheme was a digitized microscopical image, from which nuclei were segmented. Chromatin texture was described using a set of textural parameters that include ®rst-and second-order statistics of the image grey levels. The more recently developed wavelet energy parameters were also included in our study. Classi®cation was performed by a Knn-classi®er, which is a versatile multivariate statistical classi®cation technique.We investigated the role of the tissue preparation technique and found that parameters derived from cytospins were better texture descriptors than those from sections. A 100% correct classi®cation was achieved in a patient diagnosis experiment and 82% in a nuclear grading experiment.

Use of imperfectly segmented nuclei in the classification of histopathology images of breast cancer

“…These results are comparable to others presented in the literature, namely [16] and [4], which relied on the more specific Feulgen staining protocol and the interactive selection of wellsegmented nuclei. We hypothesize that it is the use of a comprehensive set of features that allows for the use of imperfectly segmented objects for this particular application.…”

“…Overall, however, it does not appear that too much information is lost or obscured with improperly segmented nuclei. Our results also compare favorably with the results on Feulgen-stained nuclei in breast cancer [4,16].…”

Visions of the Future in Histopathology

“…The sequencing of the human genome accuracy (6). seemed to herald a new era in medicine, fostering the belief Pathologists struggled long and hard to evolve a set of among molecular geneticists that genomics will change the histological criteria that enabled them to agree on which way medicine is practiced.…”

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Application of Texture Measures to Study Effect of B Chromosomes on the 3D Architecture of Plant Chromatin

“…In particular, the texture features have been applied to investigate dependence between chromatin architecture and its functioning [22][23][24][25]. However, the spatial (3D) structure of chromatin in plant nuclei containing B chromosomes has not been directly investigated.…”