Segmentation and 3D reconstruction of animal tissues in histological images

Abstract

Histology is considered the “gold standard” to access anatomical information at a cellular level. In histological studies, tissue samples are cut into very thin sections, stained, and observed under a microscope by a specialist. Such studies, mainly concerning tissue structures, cellular components and their interactions, can be useful to detect and diagnose certain pathologies. Thus, to find new techniques and computational solutions to assist this diagnosis, such as the 3D image based tissue reconstruction, is extremely interesting. In this chapter, a methodology to build 3D models from histological images is proposed, and the results obtained using this methodology in four experimental cases are presented and discussed based on quantitative and qualitative metrics.