Evaluating cellularity and structural connectivity on whole brain slides using a custom-made digital pathology pipeline

Aims: In brain research, the histopathological examination of coronar whole-brain slides provides important insights into spatial disease characteristics. Regarding brain tumor research, this enables visualization of tumor heterogeneity, infiltration patterns and the relationship with the surrounding brain parenchyma. The precise correlation between radiological imaging and post-mortem brains is of special interest.

New method: We developed a wide-field slide scanner, comprising a microscope, a high-precision remotely controllable x-y-stage, a camera and a computer workstation, for automatically scanning uncommonly large formats. We analyzed whole brain slides of three patients and constructed cellularity heatmaps and fiber tract maps using a custom-made image processing pipeline.

Results: The obtained cellularity heatmaps allow for distinguishing compact tumor (5714 ± 1786 cells/mm², mean ± standard deviation) from white matter (3581 ± 828 cells/mm²) and grey matter (2473 ± 716 cells/mm²). Compared to magnetic resonance imaging, the proposed histopathological work-up (i) reveals a larger zone of tumor infiltration around the compact tumor areas and (ii) shows how pre-existing tracts are displaced by the tumor bulk. Moreover, we highlight differences in the histological tumor growth pattern of two different radiological progression subtypes.

Comparison with existing method(s): Compared to existing (commercial) solutions, our slide scanning solution is adaptable and cost-efficient. Moreover, we showcase potential clinical applications by mapping whole brain histology to magnetic resonance imaging.

Conclusions: We herein provide instructions on how to (i) construct a custom-built slide scanner capable of scanning arbitrary slide formats, (ii) automatically evaluate the cell density and (iii) perform fiber tracking on whole brain slides.