Separation enhanced nucleus detection on propidium iodide stained digital slides

Cancer research and diagnostics is an important frontier to apply the power of computers. Image processing gains more and more territory in pathology, our current study aims to apply image cytometry to this area. One of the most fundamental methods is ploidy analysis that aims to measure the pace of proliferation in the tissue. This is proven to be a good marker of tumor presence and aggressivity. Ploidy analysis traditionally is a flow cytometry area. The samples used in our study are the same as those used in a flow cytometer: a droplet of the suspension containing stained nuclei caught on a glass slide, covered and scanned. This article aims to show our progress in nucleus detection on digitized samples of propidium iodide stained cell nuclei suspensions. A previous article covered the assay method constructed and the initial segmentation technique used for nuclei detection, and identified its shortcomings based on the results. This paper presents a step forward in segmentation accuracy in our project.