SlideQC: An AI-based tool for automated quality control of whole-slide digital pathology images

Artifacts may be introduced during tissue collection and processing, slide preparation, or when generating whole slide images (WSI). The presence of artifacts has a negative impact on the digital pathology workflow as they may hinder clinical reporting. Furthermore, artifacts may lead to false positive and false negative results when deploying image analysis algorithms or computer-aided diagnosis systems to WSI. Manual quality control of WSI is a time-consuming procedure and therefore automated quality control tools, which report and exclude artifacts, are highly desirable to streamline digital pathology workflows. To automate the quality control step, Indica Labs developed SlideQC, an AI-based quality control tool that automatically detects, reports, and outlines artifacts, such as air bubbles, dust/debris, folds, out-of-focus areas, and pen marks, on H&E stained WSI, in both research and clinical workflows. In this eBook, Indica Labs introduces SlideQC.