Tag Archives: chromosome abnormalities

Poster presentation at ConRad 2021 on radiation biodosimetry with ADCI

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On May 10, 2021, CytoGnomix is presenting a poster at ConRad 2021 (www.radiation-medicine.de) titled:

Demonstration of the Automated Dicentric Chromosome Identifier and Dose Estimator [ADCI] System in a Cloud-based, Online Environment.

From the abstract:

Interpretation of cytogenetic metaphase images and quantification of exposures remain labour intensive in radiation biodosimetry, despite computer-assisted dicentric chromosome (DC) recognition and strategies to share workloads among different biodosimetry laboratories.  ADCI processes the captured images to identify DCs, selects images, and quantifies radiation exposure.  This paper describes ADCI_Online, a secure web-streaming platform  on Amazon Web Services that can be accessed worldwide from distributed local nodes.

ADCI_Online offers a subscription-based service useful for radiation research, biodosimetry proficiency testing, inter-laboratory comparisons, and training. In a research context, the system could provide highly uniform, reproducible assessment in large studies of many individuals, for example, exposed to therapeutic radiation. ADCI_Online compute environments originate from a single snapshot which can be cloned any number of times; thus, the system can be rapidly scaled when required. With robust network connectivity in a medical emergency of multiple potentially radiation exposed individuals, throughput and capacity for multiple samples requiring simultaneous processing and dose evaluation can be expanded to seamlessly mitigate any backlog in sample interpretation.

Nov. 9, 2020. Notice of Allowance for US Pat App. Ser. No. 16/057,710

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CytoGnomix’s Automated Dicentric Chromosome Identifier and Dose Estimator (ADCI) system will be awarded a US Patent for all claims covering “Smart Microscope System for Radiation Biodosimetry.”  The patent application is available at:

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20200050831A1

The abstract reads:

An automated microscope system is described that detects dicentric chromosomes (DCs) in metaphase cells arising from exposure to ionizing radiation. The radiation dose depends on the accuracy of DC detection. Accuracy is increased using image segmentation methods are used to rank high quality cytogenetic images and eliminate suboptimal metaphase cell data in a sample based on novel quality measures. When a sufficient number of high quality images are detected, the microscope system is directed to terminate metaphase image collection for a sample. The microscope system integrates image selection procedures that control an automated digitally controlled microscope with the analysis of acquired metaphase cell images to accurately determine radiation dose. Early termination of image acquisition reduces sample processing time without compromising accuracy. This approach constitutes a reliable and scalable solution that will be essential for analysis of large numbers of potentially exposed individuals.

January 28, 2013. Platform presentation on Automated Dicentric Chromosome Identifier Software

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“Automating Dicentric Chromosome Detection from Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Data” at  the International EPRBioDose 2013 Conference in Leiden, Netherlands (March 24-28).

Authors: Peter Rogan(1,2), Akila Subasinghe(1), Asanka Wickramasinghe(1), Yanxin Li(1), Jagath Samarabandu(1), Joan Knoll(1,2), Ruth Wilkins(3), Farah Flegal(4); (1)University of Western Ontario, (2)Cytognomix Inc., (3)Health Canada, (4)Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Canada.

Abstract:  We are developing a prototype software system with sufficient capacity and speed to estimate radiation exposures by counting dicentric chromosomes in metaphase cells from many individuals in the event of a
mass casualty. Top-ranked metaphase images are segmented by defining chromosomes with an active contour gradient vector field (GVF), and by determining centromere locations along the centerline. The centerline is
extracted by Discrete Curve Evolution (DCE) skeleton branch pruning and curve interpolation. Centromere detection minimizes the global width and DAPI-staining intensity profiles along the centerline. A second
centromere is identified by reapplying this procedure after masking the first. Dicentrics can be identified by applying a support vector machine-based classification, which uses features that capture width and intensity
profile characteristics as well as local shape features of the object contour at candidate pixel locations. The correct location of the centromere is also refined in chromosomes with sister chromatid separation. The
overall algorithm has both high sensitivity (85%) and specificity (94%). Results are independent of the shape and structure of chromosomes in different cells, regardless of which laboratory protocol is followed or the
specimen source. The requisite throughput is being achieved by recoding MATLAB software modules for different segmentation functions in C++/OpenCV, and integrating them in the prototype. Processing of

numerous images is accelerated by both data and task software parallelization with the Message Passaging Interface and Intel Threading Building Blocks as well as an asynchronous non-blocking I/O strategy. Relative
to a serial process, metaphase ranking, GVF, and DCE are respectively 100 and 300 fold faster on an 8-core I7-based desktop and on a 64-core shared memory cluster computer. Extrapolation from these benchmarks to
a 64-core system in which all of the software modules have been integrated indicates that it should be feasible to process metaphases for dicentric chromosomes from 1000 specimens in 20 hours.