A generalist deep-learning volume segmentation tool for volume electron microscopy of biological samples.

Journal: Journal of structural biology
Published Date:

Abstract

We present the Volume Segmentation Tool (VST), a deep learning software tool that implements volumetric image segmentation in volume electron microscopy image stack data from a wide range of biological sample types. VST automates the handling of data preprocessing, data augmentation, and network building, as well as the configuration for model training, while adapting to the specific dataset. We have tried to make VST more accessible by designing it to operate entirely on local hardware and have provided a browser-based interface with additional features for visualizations of the networks and augmented datasets. VST can utilise contour map prediction to support instance segmentation on top of semantic segmentation. Through examples from various resin-embedded sample derived transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy datasets, we demonstrate that VST achieves state of the art performance compared to existing approaches.

Authors

  • Yuyao Huang
    Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
  • Nickhil Jadav
    Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
  • Georgia Rutter
    Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
  • Lech Szymanski
    School of Computing, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
  • Mihnea Bostina
    Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand. Electronic address: mihnea.bostina@otago.ac.nz.
  • Duane P Harland
    Smart Foods & Bioproducts Science Group, AgResearch, Lincoln 7608, New Zealand; Biomolecular Interaction Centre (BIC), Te Pokapū Taunekeneke Rāpoi Ngota, New Zealand. Electronic address: Duane.Harland@agresearch.co.nz.

Keywords

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