Detecting Overlapped Nuclei Regions in the Feulgen-Stained Cytological Smears

摘要

Projects related to clinical implementation of computerized image processing in cytology face a common problem of distinguishing between artifacts and the objects of interest which should bemeasured and analyzed. Secondary Screening Instruments are computerized devices used to detect possible presence of cancerous or precancerous cells and, independently or in collaboration with pathologist, select slides for additional manual review. In order to do the work efficiently they have to detect actual abnormalities distinguishing them from artifacts in the form of overlapping cells or nuclei. The paper reports a trial approach to perform this important discrimination.