GeneCard-BioImage provides:

  • Objective analysis for H&E slides.

  • Objective analysis for PAS slides.

Objective slide analysis can avoid the various shortcomings of subjective analysis，such as (1) arbitrary selection of slice regions; (2) standard differences between different analysts; (3) standard differences in the same analyst at different times. Therefore, it can ensure the reproducibility of the results.

1. Objective workflow for automated H&E slide analysis

1.1 Principle

The inflammation caused by various reasons is typically accompanied by leukocyte infiltration1, or intuitively understood as an increase in cells at the lesion site. This is usually identified through H&E staining of tissue sections2.

This workflow achieves objective automatic analysis of H&E slides by counting the relative total number of cells (nuclei) and the relative total area of nuclei in the H&E slides.

1.2 Flowchart and example

Note：The tissue slides used in this example were scanned using the Pannoramic 250 FLASH digital pathology scanner from 3DHISTECH. A 20× brightfield objective lens was used to obtain full-slide high-resolution digital images, which were saved in the .mrxs format for further analysis.

2. Objective workflow for automated H&E slide analysis

2.1 Principle

PAS staining is mainly used to stain structures containing a high proportion of carbohydrates (including glycogen)3, such as the identification of mucus secretion in a mouse asthma model4.

This workflow achieves objective automatic analysis of PAS slides counting the relative total number of PAS-positive granules and the relative total area of PAS-positive granules in the PAS slides.

2.2 Flowchart and example

Note：The tissue slides used in this example were scanned using the Pannoramic 250 FLASH digital pathology scanner from 3DHISTECH. A 20× brightfield objective lens was used to obtain full-slide high-resolution digital images, which were saved in the .mrxs format for further analysis.

References

1.
Coussens, L. M. & Werb, Z. Inflammation and cancer. Nature 420, 860–867 (2002).
2.
Haan, K. de et al. Deep learning-based transformation of h&e stained tissues into special stains. Nature Communications 12, (2021).
3.
Singh, I., Weston, A., Kundur, A. & Dobie, G. Chapter 1 - introduction. in Haematology case studies with blood cell morphology and pathophysiology 1–8 (Elsevier, 2017). doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-811911-2.00001-5.
4.
Khumalo, J., Kirstein, F., Scibiorek, M., Hadebe, S. & Brombacher, F. Therapeutic and prophylactic deletion of IL‐4Ra‐signaling ameliorates established ovalbumin induced allergic asthma. Allergy 75, 1347–1360 (2020).