Z-Stack Scanning can Improve AI Detection of Mitosis: A Case Study of Meningiomas
Journal:
arXiv
Published Date:
Jan 27, 2025
Abstract
Z-stack scanning is an emerging whole slide imaging technology that captures
multiple focal planes alongside the z-axis of a glass slide. Because z-stacking
can offer enhanced depth information compared to the single-layer whole slide
imaging, this technology can be particularly useful in analyzing small-scaled
histopathological patterns. However, its actual clinical impact remains debated
with mixed results. To clarify this, we investigate the effect of z-stack
scanning on artificial intelligence (AI) mitosis detection of meningiomas. With
the same set of 22 Hematoxylin and Eosin meningioma glass slides scanned by
three different digital pathology scanners, we tested the performance of three
AI pipelines on both single-layer and z-stacked whole slide images (WSIs).
Results showed that in all scanner-AI combinations, z-stacked WSIs
significantly increased AI's sensitivity (+17.14%) on the mitosis detection
with only a marginal impact on precision. Our findings provide quantitative
evidence that highlights z-stack scanning as a promising technique for AI
mitosis detection, paving the way for more reliable AI-assisted pathology
workflows, which can ultimately benefit patient management.
