Automated Detection of Liver Histopathological Findings Based on Biopsy Image Processing

Hepatic steatosis is the accumulation of fat in the hepatic cells and the liver. Triglycerides and other kinds of molecules are included in the lipids. When there is some defect in the process, hepatic steatosis arise, during which the free fatty acids are taken by the liver and exuded as lipoproteins. Alcohol is the main cause of steatosis when excessive amounts are consumed for a long period of time. In many cases, steatosis can lead to inflammation that is mentioned as steatohepatitis or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which can later lead to fibrosis and finally cirrhosis. For automated detection and quantification of hepatic steatosis, a novel two-stage methodology is developed in this study. Initially, the image is processed in order to become more suitable for the detection of fat regions and steatosis quantification. In the second stage, initial candidate image regions are detected, and then they are either validated or discarded based on a series of criteria. The methodology is based on liver biopsy image analysis, and has been tested using 40 liver biopsy images obtained from patients who suffer from hepatitis C. The obtained results indicate that the proposed methodology can accurately assess liver steatosis.