Nuclear density analysis in microscopic images for the characterization of retinal geographic atrophy

Martha J. Peralta-Ildefonso; Ernesto Moya-Albor; Jorge Brieva; Esmeralda Lira-Romero; Andric C. Perez-Ortiz; Ramon Coral-Vazquez; Francisco J. Estrada-Mena

doi:10.1117/12.2542061

3 January 2020 Nuclear density analysis in microscopic images for the characterization of retinal geographic atrophy

Martha J. Peralta-Ildefonso, Ernesto Moya-Albor, Jorge Brieva, Esmeralda Lira-Romero, Andric C. Perez-Ortiz, Ramon Coral-Vazquez, Francisco J. Estrada-Mena

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 11330, 15th International Symposium on Medical Information Processing and Analysis; 1133008 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2542061
Event: 15th International Symposium on Medical Information Processing and Analysis, 2019, Medelin, Colombia

Abstract

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in industrialized countries. It is estimated that AMD affects at least 1 in 10 Hispanics. Previous reports have shown that AMD has multiple risk factors. Recently, we demonstrated that some genetic variants in the SGCD gene are involved in AMD developments, especially in early-stage (geographic atrophy, GA). Therefore, to evaluate the relationship between SGCD's absence and the loss of photoreceptors in GA, we worked with a genetically modified mouse model, SGCD deficient (Sgcd^−/−) and a control mouse C57BL/6J (Sgcd^+/+). First, we obtained hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) retina staining microscopic images. Then, we coarsely selected the outer and inner nuclear retinal layer (ONL and INL respectively) and finally, we applied an automatic nuclei segmentation to calculate the nuclear density in each region. Our results showed that Sgcd absence does not result in photoreceptor loss, on the contrary, it promotes an increment in nuclear density by 8.7% in ONL and 20.1% in INL compared with control eyes (p = 0.0033 and p < 0.0001 respectively). This could be explained by the fact that SGCD codifies the delta-sarcoglycan protein and there is evidence that showed a relationship between the absence of this protein with the activation of a cell proliferation signaling pathway. Finally, our results show that the delta-sarcoglycan protein could play an important role in the pathogenesis of the geographic atrophy. Moreover, there are promising perspectives for the systematic approach applied for cell image analysis, as an important tool to determine the nuclear density for assessing the progression of AMD.

Citation Download Citation

Martha J. Peralta-Ildefonso, Ernesto Moya-Albor, Jorge Brieva, Esmeralda Lira-Romero, Andric C. Perez-Ortiz, Ramon Coral-Vazquez, and Francisco J. Estrada-Mena "Nuclear density analysis in microscopic images for the characterization of retinal geographic atrophy", Proc. SPIE 11330, 15th International Symposium on Medical Information Processing and Analysis, 1133008 (3 January 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2542061

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
10 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Get copyright permission Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace

KEYWORDS

Image segmentation

RGB color model

Proteins

Image analysis

Image processing

Genetics

Retina

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years