Three-dimensional visualization of cribriform pattern in ductal carcinoma in situ with x-ray dark field computed tomography
Naoki Sunaguchi, Zhuoran Huang, Daisuke Shimao, Tetsuya Yuasa, Shu Ichihara, Rieko Nishimura, Akari Iwakoshi, Masami Ando · 2020
Cribriform architecture is a histological pattern reminiscent of Swiss cheese that is commonly recognized in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast observed by microscope. However, there are only a few three-dimensional studies to elucidate whether each glandular cavities of cribriform pattern are connected or not. The main reason for paucity of three-dimensional studies is that the conventional reconstruction based on histological sections requires laborious and time-consuming works. In this research, we first performed three-dimensional reconstruction of the cribriform pattern using crystal analyzer-based phase contrast technique, X-ray dark field computed tomography (XDFI-CT), which provides high contrast image of biological soft tissue with non-destructive and non-staining approach. Then, we propose a machine-learning-based method to extract the cavity from XDFI-CT images. Finally, we show that the useful information to analyze the cribriform patterns in DCIS such as the density and volume of the cavity can be obtained from the XDFI-CT images.