Ploidy analysis on digital slides

Abstract

Both digital imaging, and image processing in certain areas of medical sciences is evolving quickly nowadays. Pathology is one of these fields. A digital slide is the digitized version of the good old glass slides used in pathology at least from the 1850s. These digital slides are possibly the near future of pathology in terms of repeatability of diagnosis, storage, and possibility of (tele)consultation. This paper targets the measurement of DNA content in the specimen. The significance of this measurement is, that there is a healthy ratio of cells being in the phase of mitosis (i.e. the phase of reproduction), in a living person, at a given moment. The increased ratio is a cancer marker. Consequently, the ratio is proportional to the tumor aggressivity level. Quickly growing tumor areas consist of quickly reproducing cells, so at a time more cells are reproducing, than in a healthy tissue. This measurement can probably be used to decide if the tissue (and patient) in question is healthy or has cancer. It is even possible that from the aggressivity of growth the type of cancer or the urgency of treatment can be presumed.