Histological assessment

A method of measuring ER or PR status having the steps of:

• a) obtaining histopathological specimen image data;
• and
• b) identifying in the image data groups of contiguous pixels corresponding to respective cell nuclei;
• characterised in that the method also includes the steps of:
• c) deriving hue and saturation for the image data in a colour space having a hue coordinate and a saturation coordinate;
• d) thresholding the image data on the basis of hue and saturation and identifying pixels corresponding to cells which are preferentially stained relative to surrounding specimen tissue;
• and
• e) determining ER or PR status from normalised average saturation.

A method of measuring ER or PR status having the steps of:

• a) obtaining histopathological specimen image data;
• and
• b) identifying in the image data groups of contiguous pixels corresponding to respective cell nuclei;
• characterised in that the method also includes the steps of:
• c) deriving hue and saturation for the image data in a colour space having a hue coordinate and a saturation coordinate;
• d) thresholding the image data on the basis of hue and saturation and identifying pixels corresponding to cells which are preferentially stained relative to surrounding specimen tissue;
• and
• e) determining ER or PR status from normalised average saturation and fraction of pixels corresponding to preferentially stained cells.

A method of measuring C-erb-2 status having the steps of:

• a) obtaining histopathological specimen image data;
• and
• b) identifying in the image data contiguous pixel groups corresponding to respective cell nuclei associated with surrounding cell boundary staining;
• characterised in that the method also includes the steps of:
• c) correlating window functions of different lengths with pixel sub-groups within the identified contiguous pixels groups to identify pixels associated with cell boundaries,
• d) computing brightness-related measures of cell boundary brightness and sharpness and brightness extent around cell boundaries from pixels corresponding to cell boundaries,
• e) comparing the brightness-related measures with predetermined equivalents obtained from comparison images associated with different values of C-erb-2, and
• f) assigning to the image data a C-erb-2 value which is that associated with the comparison image having brightness-related measures closest to those determined for the image data.

A method of measuring vascularity having the steps of:

• a) obtaining histopathological specimen image data;
• characterised in that the method also includes the steps of:
• b) deriving hue and saturation for the image data in a colour space having a hue coordinate and a saturation coordinate;
• c) producing a segmented image by thresholding the image data on the basis of hue and saturation;
• and
• d) identifying in the segmented image groups of contiguous pixels;
• and
• e) determining vascularity from the total area of the groups of contiguous pixels which are sufficiently large to correspond to vascularity, such area being expressed as a proportion of the image data's total area.

A computer program for measuring ER or PR status, the program being arranged to control computer apparatus to execute the steps of:

• a) processing histopathological specimen image data to identify in the image data groups of contiguous pixels corresponding to respective cell nuclei;
• characterised in that the program is also arranged to implement the steps of:
• b) deriving hue and saturation for the image data in a colour space having a hue coordinate and a saturation coordinate;
• c) thresholding the image data on the basis of hue and saturation and identifying pixels corresponding to cells which are preferentially stained relative to surrounding specimen tissue;
• and
• d) determining ER or PR status from proportion of pixels corresponding to preferentially stained cells.

A computer program for measuring ER or PR status, the program being arranged to control computer apparatus to execute the steps of:

• a) processing histopathological specimen image data to identify in the image data groups of contiguous pixels corresponding to respective cell nuclei;
• characterised in that the program is also arranged to implement the steps of:
• b) deriving hue and saturation for the image data in a colour space having a hue coordinate and a saturation coordinate;
• c) thresholding the image data on the basis of hue and saturation and identifying pixels corresponding to cells which are preferentially stained relative to surrounding specimen tissue;
• and
• d) determining ER or PR status from normalised average saturation.

A computer program for measuring ER or PR status, the program being arranged to control computer apparatus to execute the steps of:

• a) processing histopathological specimen image data to identify in the image data groups of contiguous pixels corresponding to respective cell nuclei;
• characterised in that the program is also arranged to implement the steps of:
• b) deriving hue and saturation for the image data in a colour space having a hue coordinate and a saturation coordinate;
• c) thresholding the image data on the basis of hue and saturation and identifying pixels corresponding to cells which are preferentially stained relative to surrounding specimen tissue;
• and
• d) determining ER or PR status from normalised average saturation and fraction of pixels corresponding to preferentially stained cells.

A computer program for use in measuring C-erb-2 status arranged to control computer apparatus to execute the steps of:

• a) processing histopathological specimen image data to identify contiguous pixel groups corresponding to respective cell nuclei associated with surrounding cell boundary staining;
• characterised in that the computer program is also arranged to implement the steps of:
• b) correlating window functions of different lengths with pixel sub-groups within the identified contiguous pixels groups to identify pixels associated with cell boundaries,
• c) computing brightness-related measures of cell boundary brightness and sharpness and brightness extent around cell boundaries from pixels corresponding to cell boundaries,
• d) comparing the brightness-related measures with predetermined equivalents obtained from comparison images associated with different values of C-erb-2, and
• e) assigning to the image data a C-erb-2 value which is that associated with the comparison image having brightness-related measures closest to those determined for the image data.

A computer program for use in measuring vascularity characterised in that it is arranged to control computer apparatus to execute the steps of:

• a) using histopathological specimen image data to derive hue and saturation for the image data in a colour space having a hue coordinate and a saturation coordinate;
• b) producing a segmented image by thresholding the image data on the basis of hue and saturation;
• and
• c) identifying in the segmented image groups of contiguous pixels;
• and
• d) determining vascularity from the total area of the groups of contiguous pixels which are sufficiently large to correspond to vascularity, such area being expressed as a proportion of the image data's total area.

Apparatus for measuring ER or PR status including means for photographing histopathological specimens to provide image data and computer apparatus to process the image data, the computer apparatus being programmed to identify in the image data groups of contiguous pixels corresponding to respective cell nuclei, characterised in that the computer apparatus is also programmed to execute the steps of:

• a) deriving hue and saturation for the image data in a colour space having a hue coordinate and a saturation coordinate;
• b) thresholding the image data on the basis of hue and saturation and identifying pixels corresponding to cells which are preferentially stained relative to surrounding specimen tissue;
• and
• c) determining ER or PR status from proportion of pixels corresponding to preferentially stained cells.

Apparatus for measuring ER or PR status including means for photographing histopathological specimens to provide image data and computer apparatus to process the image data, the computer apparatus being programmed to identify in the image data groups of contiguous pixels corresponding to respective cell nuclei, characterised in that the computer apparatus is also programmed to execute the steps of:

• a) deriving hue and saturation for the image data in a colour space having a hue coordinate and a saturation coordinate;
• b) thresholding the image data on the basis of hue and saturation and identifying pixels corresponding to cells which are preferentially stained relative to surrounding specimen tissue;
• and
• c) determining ER or PR status from normalised average saturation.

Apparatus for measuring ER or PR status including means for photographing histopathological specimens to provide image data and computer apparatus to process the image data, the computer apparatus being programmed to identify in the image data groups of contiguous pixels corresponding to respective cell nuclei, characterised in that the computer apparatus is also programmed to execute the steps of:

• a) deriving hue and saturation for the image data in a colour space having a hue coordinate and a saturation coordinate;
• b) thresholding the image data on the basis of hue and saturation and identifying pixels corresponding to cells which are preferentially stained relative to surrounding specimen tissue;
• and
• c) determining ER or PR status from normalised average saturation and fraction of pixels corresponding to preferentially stained cells.

Apparatus for measuring C-erb-2 status including means for photographing histopathological specimens to provide image data and computer apparatus to process the image data, the computer apparatus being programmed to identify in the image data groups of contiguous pixels corresponding to respective cell nuclei, characterised in that the computer apparatus is also programmed to execute the steps of:

• a) correlating window functions of different lengths with pixel sub-groups within the identified contiguous pixels groups to identify pixels associated with cell boundaries,
• b) computing brightness-related measures of cell boundary brightness and sharpness and brightness extent around cell boundaries from pixels corresponding to cell boundaries,
• c) comparing the brightness-related measures with predetermined equivalents obtained from comparison images associated with different values of C-erb-2, and
• d) assigning to the image data a C-erb-2 value which is that associated with the comparison image having brightness-related measures closest to those determined for the image data.

Apparatus for measuring vascularity including means for photographing histopathological specimens to provide image data and computer apparatus to process the image data, characterised in that the computer apparatus is also programmed to execute the steps of:

• a) deriving hue and saturation for the image data in a colour space having a hue coordinate and a saturation coordinate;
• b) producing a segmented image by thresholding the image data on the basis of hue and saturation;
• and
• c) identifying in the segmented image groups of contiguous pixels;
• and
• d) determining vascularity from the total area of the groups of contiguous pixels which are sufficiently large to correspond to vascularity, such area being expressed as a proportion of the image data's total area.