Analysis of 3D pathology samples using weakly supervised AI.

Song AH., Williams M., Williamson DFK., Chow SSL., Jaume G., Gao G., Zhang A., Chen B., Baras AS., Serafin R., Colling R., Downes MR., Farré X., Humphrey P., Verrill C., True LD., Parwani AV., Liu JTC., Mahmood F.

Human tissue, which is inherently three-dimensional (3D), is traditionally examined through standard-of-care histopathology as limited two-dimensional (2D) cross-sections that can insufficiently represent the tissue due to sampling bias. To holistically characterize histomorphology, 3D imaging modalities have been developed, but clinical translation is hampered by complex manual evaluation and lack of computational platforms to distill clinical insights from large, high-resolution datasets. We present TriPath, a deep-learning platform for processing tissue volumes and efficiently predicting clinical outcomes based on 3D morphological features. Recurrence risk-stratification models were trained on prostate cancer specimens imaged with open-top light-sheet microscopy or microcomputed tomography. By comprehensively capturing 3D morphologies, 3D volume-based prognostication achieves superior performance to traditional 2D slice-based approaches, including clinical/histopathological baselines from six certified genitourinary pathologists. Incorporating greater tissue volume improves prognostic performance and mitigates risk prediction variability from sampling bias, further emphasizing the value of capturing larger extents of heterogeneous morphology.

DOI

10.1016/j.cell.2024.03.035

Type

Journal article

Journal

Cell

Publication Date

09/05/2024

Volume

187

Pages

2502 - 2520.e17

Keywords

3D deep learning, 3D microscopy, 3D pathology, computational pathology, deep learning, intratumoral heterogeneity, microCT, patient prognosis, slide-free microscopy, Humans, Male, Deep Learning, Imaging, Three-Dimensional, Prognosis, Prostatic Neoplasms, Supervised Machine Learning, X-Ray Microtomography

Permalink Original publication