Go to IEEE EMBS BHI 2025 Conference homepageCountPath: Automating Fragment Counting in Digital Pathology
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Keywords: Counting, detection, digital pathology, fragments, interobserver variability, ViT, YOLO
TL;DR: This work introduces CountPath, a two-stage method that combines YOLOv11-X and ViT-B/32 models to improve accuracy and reduce interobserver variability in fragment counting for digital pathology quality control.
Abstract: Quality control of medical images is a critical component of digital pathology, ensuring that diagnostic images meet required standards. A pre-analytical task within this process is the verification of the number of specimen fragments, a process that ensures that the number of fragments on a slide matches the number documented in the macroscopic report. This step is important to ensure that the slides contain the appropriate diagnostic material from the grossing process, thereby guaranteeing the accuracy of subsequent microscopic examination and diagnosis. Traditionally, this assessment is performed manually, requiring significant time and effort while being subject to significant variability due to its subjective nature. To address these challenges, this study explores an automated approach to fragment counting using the YOLOv11 and Vision Transformer models.
Our results demonstrate that the automated system achieves a level of performance comparable or even superior to that of experts, offering a reliable and efficient alternative to manual counting. Additionally, we present findings on interobserver variability, showing that the automated approach achieves an accuracy of 90.1%, surpassing the range observed among experts (82-88%). This result further supports its suitability for integration into routine pathology workflows.
Track: 3. Imaging Informatics
Registration Id: 28NHDHBWHKZ
Submission Number: 80
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