Texture Analysis of Dystrophic Muscle Biopsies

Despite the introduction of a full range of genetic diagnostic tests and sophisticated techniques in modern pathology, interpretation of histopathological images obtained from muscle biopsies remains important in the daily practice of neuropathology since it can give indications of the severity and the rate of progression of neuromuscular disease. In this paper, we propose a simple and time saving method for quantitative assessment of severity of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) based on computer-aided analysis of histopathological images obtained from biopsies of dystrophic muscles. Using this method, colour filtration pixel-by-pixel of the whole virtual slides (CFPP method) is adopted to semi-quantitative evaluation of morphological structure of the muscular tissue. Results demonstrate usefulness of the proposed method in neuropathological assessement of DMD severity.