Abstract | CONTEXT.—: OBJECTIVES.—: To establish an immunofluorescent scanning and digital image analysis workflow that provides an objective approach for staining intensity assessment of the immunofluorescence dystrophin labeling and determination of the percentage of biomarker-positive fibers in muscle cryosections. DESIGN.—: Optimal and repeatable digital image capture was achieved by a rigorously qualified fluorescent scanning process. After scanning qualification, the MuscleMap (Flagship Biosciences, Westminster, Colorado) algorithm was validated by comparing high-power microscopic field total and dystrophin-positive fiber counts obtained by trained pathologists to data derived by MuscleMap. Next, the algorithm was tested on whole-slide images of immunofluorescent-labeled muscle sections from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Becker muscular dystrophy, and control patients. RESULTS.—: When used under the guidance of a trained pathologist, the digital image analysis tool met predefined validation criteria and demonstrated functional and statistical equivalence with manual assessment. This work is the first, to our knowledge, to qualify and validate immunofluorescent scanning and digital tissue image-analysis workflow, respectively, with the rigor required to support the clinical trial environments. CONCLUSIONS.—: MuscleMap enables analysis of all fibers within an entire muscle biopsy section and provides data on a fiber-by-fiber basis. This will allow future clinical trials to objectively investigate myofibers' dystrophin expression at a greater level of consistency and detail.
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Authors | Famke Aeffner, Crystal Faelan, Steven A Moore, Alexander Moody, Joshua C Black, Jay S Charleston, Diane E Frank, Johannes Dworzak, J Kris Piper, Manish Ranjitkar, Kristin Wilson, Suzanne Kanaly, Daniel G Rudmann, Holger Lange, G David Young, Anthony J Milici |
Journal | Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine
(Arch Pathol Lab Med)
Vol. 143
Issue 2
Pg. 197-205
(02 2019)
ISSN: 1543-2165 [Electronic] United States |
PMID | 30168727
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Validation Study)
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Chemical References |
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Topics |
- Adolescent
- Biopsy
- Child
- Child, Preschool
- Dystrophin
(analysis)
- Female
- Frozen Sections
- Humans
- Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted
(methods)
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Muscle, Skeletal
(pathology)
- Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne
(diagnosis)
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