Development of a Reference Image Collection Library for Histopathology Image Processing, Analysis and Decision Support Systems Research

Histopathology image processing, analysis and computer-aided diagnosis have been shown as effective assisting tools towards reliable and intra-/inter-observer invariant decisions in traditional pathology. Especially for cancer patients, decisions need to be as accurate as possible in order to increase the probability of optimal treatment planning. In this study, we propose a new image collection library (HICL–Histology Image Collection Library) comprising 3831 histological images of three different diseases, for fostering research in histopathology image processing, analysis and computer-aided diagnosis. Raw data comprised 93, 116 and 55 cases of brain, breast and laryngeal cancer respectively collected from the archives of the University Hospital of Patras, Greece. The 3831 images were generated from the most representative regions of the pathology, specified by an experienced histopathologist. The HICL Image Collection is free for access under an academic license at http://medisp.bme.teiath.gr/hicl/ . Potential exploitations of the proposed library may span over a board spectrum, such as in image processing to improve visualization, in segmentation for nuclei detection, in decision support systems for second opinion consultations, in statistical analysis for investigation of potential correlations between clinical annotations and imaging findings and, generally, in fostering research on histopathology image processing and analysis. To the best of our knowledge, the HICL constitutes the first attempt towards creation of a reference image collection library in the field of traditional histopathology, publicly and freely available to the scientific community.