Scene segmentation in a machine vision system for histopathology

Algorithms and procedures employed to attain reliable and exhaustive segmentation in histopathologic imagery of colon and prostate sections are detailed. The algorithms are controlled and selectively called by a scene segmentation expert system as part of a machine vision system for the diagnostic interpretation of histopathologic sections. At this time, effective segmentation of scenes of glandular tissues is produced, with the system being conservative in the identification of glands; for the segmentation of overlapping glandular nuclei an overall success rate of approximately 90% has been achieved.