SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATED SCREENING AND PROGNOSIS OF CANCER FROM WHOLE-SLIDE BIOPSY IMAGES

摘要

The invention provides systems and methods for detection, grading, scoring and tele-screening of cancerous lesions. A complete scheme for automated quantitative analysis and assessment of human and animal tissue images of several types of cancers is presented. Various aspects of the invention are directed to the detection, grading, prediction and staging of prostate cancer on serial sections/slides of prostate core images, or biopsy images. Accordingly, the invention includes a variety of sub-systems, which could be used separately or in conjunction to automatically grade cancerous regions. Each system utilizes a different approach with a different feature set. For instance, in the quantitative analysis, textural-based and morphology-based features may be extracted at image- and (or) object-levels from regions of interest. Additionally, the invention provides sub-systems and methods for accurate detection and mapping of disease in whole slide digitized images by extracting new features through integration of one or more of the above-mentioned classification systems. The invention also addresses the modeling, qualitative analysis and assessment of 3-D histopathology images which assist pathologists in visualization, evaluation and diagnosis of diseased tissue. Moreover, the invention includes systems and methods for the development of a tele-screening system in which the proposed computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems. In some embodiments, novel methods for image analysis (including edge detection, color mapping characterization and others) are provided for use prior to feature extraction in the proposed CAD systems.