Assessment and Visualization of Ki67 Heterogeneity in Breast Cancers through Digital Image Analysis

The Ki67 index (KI) is a standard clinical marker for tumor proliferation;however, its application is hindered by intratumoral heterogeneity. In this study, we used digital image analysis to comprehensively analyze Ki67 heterogeneity and distribution patterns in breast carcinoma. Using Smart Pathology software, we digitized and analyzed 42 excised breast carcinoma Ki67 slides. Boxplots, histograms, and heat maps were generated to illustrate the KI distribution. We found that 30% of cases (13/42) exhibited discrepancies between global and hotspot KI when using a 14% KI threshold for classification. Patients with higher global or hotspot KI values displayed greater heterogenicity. Ki67 distribution patterns were categorized as randomly distributed (52%, 22/42), peripheral (43%, 18/42), and centered (5%, 2/42). Our sampling simulator indicated analyzing more than 10 high-power fields was typically required to accurately estimate global KI, with sampling size being correlated with heterogeneity. In conclusion, using digital image analysis in whole-slide images allows for comprehensive Ki67 profile assessment, shedding light on heterogeneity and distribution patterns. This spatial information can facilitate KI surveys of breast cancer and other malignancies.

Automated deep learning system for power line inspection image analysis and processing: architecture and design issues

The continuous growth in the scale of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications in transmission line inspection has resulted in a corresponding increase in the demand for UAV inspection image processing. Owing to its excellent performance in computer vision, deep learning has been applied to UAV inspection image processing tasks such as power line identification and insulator defect detection. Despite their excellent performance, electric power UAV inspection image processing models based on deep learning face several problems such as a small application scope, the need for constant retraining and optimization, and high R&D monetary and time costs due to the black-box and scene data-driven characteristics of deep learning. In this study, an automated deep learning system for electric power UAV inspection image analysis and processing is proposed as a solution to the aforementioned problems. This system design is based on the three critical design principles of generalizability, extensibility, and automation. Pre-trained models, fine-tuning (downstream task adaptation), and automated machine learning, which are closely related to these design principles, are reviewed. In addition, an automated deep learning system architecture for electric power UAV inspection image analysis and processing is presented. A prototype system was constructed and experiments were conducted on the two electric power UAV inspection image analysis and processing tasks of insulator self-detonation and bird nest recognition. The models constructed using the prototype system achieved 91.36% and 86.13% mAP for insulator self-detonation and bird nest recognition, respectively. This demonstrates that the system design concept is reasonable and the system architecture feasible .

Enhanced Tunicate Swarm Optimization with Transfer Learning Enabled Medical Image Analysis System

Medical image analysis is an active research topic,with thousands of studies published in the past few years.Transfer learning(TL)including convolutional neural networks(CNNs)focused to enhance efficiency on an innovative task using the knowledge of the same tasks learnt in advance.It has played a major role in medical image analysis since it solves the data scarcity issue along with that it saves hardware resources and time.This study develops an EnhancedTunicate SwarmOptimization withTransfer Learning EnabledMedical Image Analysis System(ETSOTL-MIAS).The goal of the ETSOTL-MIAS technique lies in the identification and classification of diseases through medical imaging.The ETSOTL-MIAS technique involves the Chan Vese segmentation technique to identify the affected regions in the medical image.For feature extraction purposes,the ETSOTL-MIAS technique designs a modified DarkNet-53 model.To avoid the manual hyperparameter adjustment process,the ETSOTLMIAS technique exploits the ETSO algorithm,showing the novelty of the work.Finally,the classification of medical images takes place by random forest(RF)classifier.The performance validation of the ETSOTL-MIAS technique is tested on a benchmark medical image database.The extensive experimental analysis showed the promising performance of the ETSOTL-MIAS technique under different measures.

Political Optimizer with Deep Learning-Enabled Tongue Color Image Analysis Model

Biomedical image processing is widely utilized for disease detection and classification of biomedical images.Tongue color image analysis is an effective and non-invasive tool for carrying out secondary detection at anytime and anywhere.For removing the qualitative aspect,tongue images are quantitatively inspected,proposing a novel disease classification model in an automated way is preferable.This article introduces a novel political optimizer with deep learning enabled tongue color image analysis(PODL-TCIA)technique.The presented PODL-TCIA model purposes to detect the occurrence of the disease by examining the color of the tongue.To attain this,the PODL-TCIA model initially performs image pre-processing to enhance medical image quality.Followed by,Inception with ResNet-v2 model is employed for feature extraction.Besides,political optimizer(PO)with twin support vector machine(TSVM)model is exploited for image classification process,shows the novelty of the work.The design of PO algorithm assists in the optimal parameter selection of the TSVM model.For ensuring the enhanced outcomes of the PODL-TCIA model,a wide-ranging experimental analysis was applied and the outcomes reported the betterment of the PODL-TCIA model over the recent approaches.

Use of high-resolution X-ray computed tomography and 3D image analysis to quantify mineral dissemination and pore space in oxide copper ore particles

Mineral dissemination and pore space distribution in ore particles are important features that influence heap leaching performance. To quantify the mineral dissemination and pore space distribution of an ore particle, a cylindrical copper oxide ore sample (I center dot 4.6 mm x 5.6 mm) was scanned using high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (HRXCT), a nondestructive imaging technology, at a spatial resolution of 4.85 mu m. Combined with three-dimensional (3D) image analysis techniques, the main mineral phases and pore space were segmented and the volume fraction of each phase was calculated. In addition, the mass fraction of each mineral phase was estimated and the result was validated with that obtained using traditional techniques. Furthermore, the pore phase features, including the pore size distribution, pore surface area, pore fractal dimension, pore centerline, and the pore connectivity, were investigated quantitatively. The pore space analysis results indicate that the pore size distribution closely fits a log-normal distribution and that the pore space morphology is complicated, with a large surface area and low connectivity. This study demonstrates that the combination of HRXCT and 3D image analysis is an effective tool for acquiring 3D mineralogical and pore structural data.

Review of Remotely Sensed Imagery Classification Patterns Based on Object-oriented Image Analysis

With the wide use of high-resolution remotely sensed imagery, the object-oriented remotely sensed informa- tion classification pattern has been intensively studied. Starting with the definition of object-oriented remotely sensed information classification pattern and a literature review of related research progress, this paper sums up 4 developing phases of object-oriented classification pattern during the past 20 years. Then, we discuss the three aspects of method- ology in detail, namely remotely sensed imagery segmentation, feature analysis and feature selection, and classification rule generation, through comparing them with remotely sensed information classification method based on per-pixel. At last, this paper presents several points that need to be paid attention to in the future studies on object-oriented RS in- formation classification pattern: 1) developing robust and highly effective image segmentation algorithm for multi-spectral RS imagery; 2) improving the feature-set including edge, spatial-adjacent and temporal characteristics; 3) discussing the classification rule generation classifier based on the decision tree; 4) presenting evaluation methods for classification result by object-oriented classification pattern.

Image Analysis on Detachment Process of Dust Cake on Ceramic Candle Filter

Based on the analysis of high-speed video images, the detachment behavior of dust cake from the ceramic candle filter surface during pulse cleaning process is investigated. The influences of the dust cake loading,the reservoir pressure, and the filtration velocity on the cleaning effectiveness are analyzed. Experimental results show that there exists an optimum dust cake thickness for pulse-cleaning process. For thin dust cake, the patchy cleaning exists and the cleaning efficiency is low; if the dust cake is too thick, the pressure drop across the dust cake becomes higher and a higher reservoir pressure may be needed. At the same time there also exists an optimum reservoir pressure for a given filtration condition.

Use of digital image analysis combined with fractal theory to determine particle morphology and surface texture of quartz sands

The particle morphology and surface texture play a major role in influencing mechanical and hydraulic behaviors of sandy soils. This paper presents the use of digital image analysis combined with fractal theory as a tool to quantify the particle morphology and surface texture of two types of quartz sands widely used in the region of Vitória, Espírito Santo, southeast of Brazil. The two investigated sands are sampled from different locations. The purpose of this paper is to present a simple, straightforward,reliable and reproducible methodology that can identify representative sandy soil texture parameters.The test results of the soil samples of the two sands separated by sieving into six size fractions are presented and discussed. The main advantages of the adopted methodology are its simplicity, reliability of the results, and relatively low cost. The results show that sands from the coastal spit(BS) have a greater degree of roundness and a smoother surface texture than river sands(RS). The values obtained in the test are statistically analyzed, and again it is confirmed that the BS sand has a slightly greater degree of sphericity than that of the RS sand. Moreover, the RS sand with rough surface texture has larger specific surface area values than the similar BS sand, which agree with the obtained roughness fractal dimensions. The consistent experimental results demonstrate that image analysis combined with fractal theory is an accurate and efficient method to quantify the differences in particle morphology and surface texture of quartz sands.

Application of Image Analysis Based on SEM and Chemical Mapping on PC Mortars under Sulfate Attack

The degradation mechanisms of cementitious materials exposed to sulfate solutions have been controversial, despite considerable research. In this paper, two methodologies of image analysis based on scanning electron microscope and chemical mapping are used to analyse Portland cement mortars exposed to sodium sulfate solution. The effects of sulfate concentration in solution and water to cement ratio of mortar, which are considered as the most sensitive factors to sulfate attack, are investigated respectively by comparing the macro expansion with microstructure analysis. It is found that the sulfate concentration in pore solution, expressed as sulfate content in C-S-H, plays a critical role on the supersaturation with respect to ettringite and so on the expansion force generated.

Mouse Karyotype Obtained by Combining DAPI Staining with Image Analysis

In this study, mitotic metaphase chromosomes in mouse were identified by a new chromosome fluorescence banding technique combining DAPI staining with image analysis. Clear 4＇, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole （DAPI） multiple bands like （J-hands could be produced in mouse. The Meta- Morph software was then used to generate linescans of pixel intensity for the banded chromosomes from short arm to long arm. These linescans were sufficient not only to identify each individual chromosome but also analyze the physical sites of bands in chromosome. Based on the results, the clear and accurate karyotype of mouse metaphase chromosomes was established. The technique is therefore considered to he a new method for cytological studies of mouse.

Pelage color of red bats Lasiurus borealis varies with body size:An image analysis of museum specimens

Mammalian pelage color can vary among individuals of many species, although this intraspecific variation is oftenoverlooked by researchers, perhaps because of its sometimes subtle nature and difficulty in assessing it quantitatively. Thus, suchvariation is rarely studied in mammals, and this is especially true within the order Chiroptera, where there has been very little empiricalresearch. We examined museum specimens of red bats (Lasiurus borealis, family Vespertilionidae) from Georgia, USA, todetermine the extent of sexual dimorphism in pelage color and to explore possible associations between body size and pelagecolor. We photographed 54 specimens under uniform lighting, and used an image analysis program to measure pelage hue on theuropatagium region, which is fully furred in members of the genus Lasiurus. Statistical analyses of pelage hue scores showedmales had significantly redder pelage than females when considered alone, but when examined together with effects of body sizeand collection year, sex was not significant, and collection year and body size were. More recent specimens tended to be less redthan older specimens, which might indicate a wearing of the buffy tips of hairs from older specimens, and smaller bats of bothsexes tended to be more red. These interesting findings are encouraging and we suggest that future explorations into intraspecificvariation in pelage color of bats using this or similar approaches are warranted to clarify the significance of the patterns. Thisstudy also demonstrated that care must be taken in analyses of mammalian pelage color from older museum skins, or at least thatresearchers must take into account the age of the specimens .

Image Analysis for Degradation of DNA in Retinal Nuclei of Rat after Death

The changes of retinal nuclear DNA content in rats after death was detected and the relationship between degradation of retinal nuclear DNA and postmortem interval （PMI） was analyzed. Ninety healthy adult SD rats, female, weighing 250±10 g, were randomly divided into 15 groups. At 20 ℃, the retinal cells were withdrawn every 2 h within 0 to 28 h after death and stained with Feulgen-Vans. Index of density （ID）, integral absorbance （IA） and average absorbance （AA） in retinal nucleus were analyzed by image analysis system. And the obtained data were subjected to linear regression analysis by using SPSS12.0 software. The results showed that in retinal nucleus, AA and IA were gradually declined with the prolongation of PMI, while ID had an increased tendency. Within 28 h after PMI, the regression equations were as follows： YAA=-0.009XAA＋0.590 （R^2=0.949）, YIA=0.097XIA＋18.903 （R^2=0.968）, YID=0.122XID＋2.246 （R^2=0.951）. It was concluded that retinal nuclear DNA after death in rats was degraded gradually and had a good correlation with PMI.

Image Analysis of Fabric Pilling Based on Light Projection

The objective assessment of fabric pilling based on light projection and image analysis has been exploited recently.The device for capturing the cross-sectional images of the pilled fabrics with light projection is elaborated.The detection of the profile line and integration of the sequential cross-sectional pilled image are discussed.The threshold based on Gaussian model is recommended for pill segmentation.The results show that the installed system is capable of eliminating the interference with pill information from the fabric color and pattern.

Assessment of Fiber Distribution in Steel Fiber Mortar Using Image Analysis

A new test method was introduced to measure fiber distribution in steel fiber reinforced mortar by using image analysis technique. Through specimen preparation, image acquisition, fiber extraction, and measurement of related fiber parameters, quantitative analysis of fiber distribution could be obtained by two parameters, namely dispersion coefficient and orientation factor. Effect of boundaries, size and steel fiber content on fiber distribution was discussed. Results showed that, steel fiber distribution was affected by boundary effect, which would be weakened with the increase of specimen size. If the length and width remained constant, the specimen height had a significant effect on orientation factor of fiber, while its influence on dispersion coefficient was not so obvious. With the increase of steel fiber content, dispersion coefficient decreased slightly, and orientation factor deviated from 0.5.

Estimation of Ground Deformation Caused by the Earthquake (M7.2) in Japan,2008,from the Geomorphic Image Analysis of High Resolution LiDAR DEMs

In this study, a new method for quantitative and efficient measurement for the ground surface movement was developed. The feature of this technique is to identify geomorphic characteristics by image matching analysis, using the intelligent images made from high resolution DEM(Digital Elevation Model). This method is useful to extract the small ground displacement where the surface shape was not intensely deformed.

Image Analysis on Corneal Opacity:A Novel Method to Estimate Postmortem Interval in Rabbits

Corneal opacity is one of the most commonly used parameters for estimating postmortem interval （PMI）. This paper proposes a new method to study the relationship between changes of corneal opacity and PMI by processing and analyzing cornea images. Corneal regions were extracted from images of rabbits＇ eyes and described by color-based and texture-based features, which could represent the changes of cornea at different PMI. A KNN classifier was used to reveal the association of image features and PMI. The result of the classification showed that the new method was reliable and effective.

Determination of the Early Time of Death by Computerized Image Analysis of DNA Degradation: Which Is the Best Quantitative Indicator of DNA Degradation?

This study evaluated the correlation between DNA degradation of the splenic lymphocytes and the early time of death, examined the early time of death by computerized image analysis technique （CIAT） and identified the best parameter that quantitatively reflects the DNA degradation. The spleen tissues from 34 SD rats were collected, subjected to cell smearing every 2 h within the first 36 h after death, stained by Feulgen-Van＇s staining, three indices reflecting DNA content in splenic lymphocytes, including integral optical density （IOD）, average optical density （AOD）, average gray scale （AG） were measured by the image analysis. Our results showed that IOD and AOD decreased and AG increased over time within the first 36 h. A stepwise linear regression analysis showed that only AG was fitted. A correlation between the postmortem interval （PMI） and AG was identified and the corresponding regression equation was obtained. Our study suggests that CIAT is a useful and promising tool for the estimation of early PMI with good objectivity and reproducibility, and AG is a more effective and better quantitative indicator for the estimation of PMI within the first 36 h after death in rats.

Image analysis and machine learning-based malaria assessment system

Malaria is an important and worldwide fatal disease that has been widely reported by the World Health Organization(WHO),and it has about 219 million cases worldwide,with 435,000 of those mortal.The common malaria diagnosis approach is heavily reliant on highly trained experts,who use a microscope to examine the samples.Therefore,there is a need to create an automated solution for the diagnosis of malaria.One of the main objectives of this work is to create a design tool that could be used to diagnose malaria from the image of a blood sample.In this paper,we firstly developed a graphical user interface that could be used to help segment red blood cells and infected cells and allow the users to analyze the blood samples.Secondly,a Feed-forward Neural Network(FNN)is designed to classify the cells into two classes.The achieved results show that the proposed techniques can be used to detect malaria,as it has achieved 92%accuracy with a database that contains 27,560 benchmark images.

Collagen proportionate area of liver tissue determined by digital image analysis in patients with HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis

BACKGROUND: The accurate assessment of the degree of hepatic fibrosis plays a critical role in guiding the diagnosis, treatment and prognostic assessment of chronic liver diseases. Liver biopsy is currently the most reliable method to evaluate the severity of hepatic fibrosis. However, liver biopsy is an invasive procedure associated with morbidity and mortality, and has several limitations in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. There is no report on the collagen proportionate area (CPA) of liver tissue in the decompensated stage of cirrhosis. This study aimed to determine the CPA of resected liver tissue samples from patients with HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis using digital image analysis, and to analyze the relationship between the CPA and liver functional reserve. METHODS: Fifty-three resected liver tissue samples from liver transplant patients with chronic hepatitis B-induced decompensated cirrhosis were stained with Masson’s trichrome, and the CPA in these samples was quantitatively determined using digital image analysis. The values of relevant liver function just before liver transplantation, the CPA in liver tissue, and their correlation were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean CPA at the decompensated stage of cirrhosis was 35.93±14.42% (11.24%-63.41%). The correlation coefficients of the CPA with a model for end-stage liver disease score, serum total bilirubin and international standard ratio of prothrombin B were 0.553, 0.519 and 0.533, respectively (P<0.001). With increasing CPA values, the three indices reflecting liver functional reserve also changed significantly.CONCLUSIONS: The degree of fibrosis may be correlated with the functional reserve. With the advancement of fibrosis, the liver functional reserve is attenuated accordingly.

An Automated Brain Image Analysis System for Brain Cancer using Shearlets

In this paper,an Automated Brain Image Analysis(ABIA)system that classifies the Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI)of human brain is presented.The classification of MRI images into normal or low grade or high grade plays a vital role for the early diagnosis.The Non-Subsampled Shearlet Transform(NSST)that captures more visual information than conventional wavelet transforms is employed for feature extraction.As the feature space of NSST is very high,a statistical t-test is applied to select the dominant directional sub-bands at each level of NSST decomposition based on sub-band energies.A combination of features that includes Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix(GLCM)based features,Histograms of Positive Shearlet Coefficients(HPSC),and Histograms of Negative Shearlet Coefficients(HNSC)are estimated.The combined feature set is utilized in the classification phase where a hybrid approach is designed with three classifiers;k-Nearest Neighbor(kNN),Naive Bayes(NB)and Support Vector Machine(SVM)classifiers.The output of individual trained classifiers for a testing input is hybridized to take a final decision.The quantitative results of ABIA system on Repository of Molecular Brain Neoplasia Data(REMBRANDT)database show the overall improved performance in comparison with a single classifier model with accuracy of 99% for normal/abnormal classification and 98% for low and high risk classification.