CHROMATIN TEXTURE ANALYSIS IN 3-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES FROM CONFOCAL SCANNING LASER MICROSCOPY

OBJECTIVE: Three-dimensional (3D) images of tissue blocs can be obtain ed through optical sectioning by a confocal scanning laser microscope and by piling up of consecutive confocal planes. These images offer th e opportunity to quantitate biologic structures (i.e., nuclear chromat in) in 3D. Chromatin texture analysis is regarded as a key element in nuclear grading of malignant lesions. The present study introduced a n ew method of structural texture analysis of 3D chromatin distribution in cell nuclei. The method was assessed for its validity in a pilot st udy. STUDY DESIGN: The study group consisted of 300 3D cell nuclei fro m prostatic lesions, 100 each of hyperplasia, dysplasia and well-diffe rentiated carcinoma. A set of 15 texture features was studied for its classification capability in a discriminant analysis. RESULTS: A class ifier that confined three texture features yielded a classification ac curacy of 91.7% for the training set (60 nuclei). The classification a ccuracy for the test set (240 nuclei) was 93.3%. CONCLUSION: The new m ethod demonstrated its potential for 3D chromatin analysis. Further st udies on large numbers of cases ave necessary to evaluate the use of 3 D nuclear grading for diagnostic pathology.