The rejection of noncellular artifacts in Papanicolaou-stained slide specimens by an automated high-resolution system. Identification of important cytometric features.
The important cytodiagnostic features that permit discrimination of typical cell types by high-resolution image analysis and pattern recognition techniques have been previously studied in detail. An automated system for the diagnosis of Papanicolaou-stained specimens must also deal, however, with the "real world" of extraneous noncellular artifacts and debris found on every slide. Features that are ideal for the separation of typical normal and abnormal cells may not be adequate by themselves to reject these objects. A new set of discriminatory features must be found. In order to identify those features, a large set of images acquired using the TICAS high-resolution television rapid-scanning system was analyzed and studied. These images, from a variety of slide types, included normal cells, abnormal cells and noncellular artifacts identified by low-resolution preprocessing logic as suspicious enough to warrant high-resolution study. The results indicate that the more important features for such discrimination are not those traditionally important in distinguishing abnormal from normal cells but include color relations, shape measures, boundary properties and texture features.
D002469:Cell Separation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D013690:Television / Q000295:instrumentation; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*