Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31303867›Full record

ArticleBiological procedures online2019

Automated macrophage counting in DLBCL tissue samples: a ROF filter based approach.

Marcus Wagner, René Hänsel, Sarah Reinke, Julia Richter, Michael Altenbuchinger, Ulf-Dietrich Braumann, Rainer Spang, Markus Löffler, Wolfram Klapper

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Biological procedures online, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Marcus Wagner1Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology (IMISE), University of Leipzig, Härtelstr. 16-18, Leipzig, 04107 Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-9063-1452
René Hänsel1Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology (IMISE), University of Leipzig, Härtelstr. 16-18, Leipzig, 04107 Germany.
Sarah ReinkeDepartment of Pathology, Hematopathology Section and Lymph Node Registry, University of Kiel/University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Arnold-Heller-Str. 3, Haus 14, Kiel, 24105 Germany.
Julia RichterDepartment of Pathology, Hematopathology Section and Lymph Node Registry, University of Kiel/University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Arnold-Heller-Str. 3, Haus 14, Kiel, 24105 Germany.
Michael Altenbuchinger3Institute of Functional Genomics, Statistical Bioinformatics, University of Regensburg, Am BioPark 9, Regensburg, 93053 Germany.
Ulf-Dietrich Braumann4Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK), P. O. B. 30 11 66, Leipzig, 04251 Germany.
Rainer Spang3Institute of Functional Genomics, Statistical Bioinformatics, University of Regensburg, Am BioPark 9, Regensburg, 93053 Germany.
Markus Löffler1Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology (IMISE), University of Leipzig, Härtelstr. 16-18, Leipzig, 04107 Germany.
Wolfram KlapperDepartment of Pathology, Hematopathology Section and Lymph Node Registry, University of Kiel/University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Arnold-Heller-Str. 3, Haus 14, Kiel, 24105 Germany.
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel · DETelstra (Australia) · AUUniversity of Regensburg · DELeipzig University of Applied Sciences · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFor analysis of the tumor microenvironment in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) tissue samples, it is desirable to obtain information about counts and distribution of different macrophage subtypes. Until now, macrophage counts are mostly inferred from gene expression analysis of whole tissue sections, providing only indirect information. Direct analysis of immunohistochemically (IHC) fluorescence stained tissue samples is confronted with several difficulties, e.g. high variability of shape and size of target macrophages and strongly inhomogeneous intensity of staining. Consequently, application of commercial software is largely restricted to very rough analysis modes, and most macrophage counts are still obtained by manual counting in microarrays or high power fields, thus failing to represent the heterogeneity of tumor microenvironment adequately.

methodsWe describe a Rudin-Osher-Fatemi (ROF) filter based segmentation approach for whole tissue samples, combining floating intensity thresholding and rule-based feature detection. Method is validated against manual counts and compared with two commercial software kits (Tissue Studio 64, Definiens AG, and Halo, Indica Labs) and a straightforward machine-learning approach in a set of 50 test images. Further, the novel method and both commercial packages are applied to a set of 44 whole tissue sections. Outputs are compared with gene expression data available for the same tissue samples. Finally, the ROF based method is applied to 44 expert-specified tumor subregions for testing selection and subsampling strategies.

resultsAmong all tested methods, the novel approach is best correlated with manual count (0.9297). Automated detection of evaluation subregions proved to be fully reliable. Comparison with gene expression data obtained for the same tissue samples reveals only moderate to low correlation levels. Subsampling within tumor subregions is possible with results almost identical to full sampling. Mean macrophage size in tumor subregions is 152.5±111.3

conclusionsROF based approach is successfully applied to detection of IHC stained macrophages in DLBCL tissue samples. The method competes well with existing commercial software kits. In difference to them, it is fully automated, externally repeatable, independent on training data and completely documented. Comparison with gene expression data indicates that image morphometry constitutes an independent source of information about antibody-polarized macrophage occurence and distribution.

Indexed as

Automated cell countingCD14CD163Floating thresholdImmunohistochemical stainingMacrophageROF filteringRule-based detection

Identifiers

PMID31303867
PMCPMC6600891
OpenAlexW2954831108

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.