Comparative Analysis of Unsupervised and Supervised Autoencoders for Nuclei Classification in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Images

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Javadian, Fatemeh, Aminparast, Zahra, Stegmaier, Johannes, Jose, Abin
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866912309155201024
author Javadian, Fatemeh
Aminparast, Zahra
Stegmaier, Johannes
Jose, Abin
author_facet Javadian, Fatemeh
Aminparast, Zahra
Stegmaier, Johannes
Jose, Abin
contents This study explores the application of supervised and unsupervised autoencoders (AEs) to automate nuclei classification in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) images, a diagnostic task traditionally reliant on subjective visual grading by pathologists. We evaluate various AE architectures, including standard AEs, contractive AEs (CAEs), and discriminative AEs (DAEs), as well as a classifier-based discriminative AE (CDAE), optimized using the hyperparameter tuning tool Optuna. Bhattacharyya distance is selected from several metrics to assess class separability in the latent space, revealing challenges in distinguishing adjacent grades using unsupervised models. CDAE, integrating a supervised classifier branch, demonstrated superior performance in both latent space separation and classification accuracy. Given that CDAE-CNN achieved notable improvements in classification metrics, affirming the value of supervised learning for class-specific feature extraction, F1 score was incorporated into the tuning process to optimize classification performance. Results show significant improvements in identifying aggressive ccRCC grades by leveraging the classification capability of AE through latent clustering followed by fine-grained classification. Our model outperforms the current state of the art, CHR-Network, across all evaluated metrics. These findings suggest that integrating a classifier branch in AEs, combined with neural architecture search and contrastive learning, enhances grading automation in ccRCC pathology, particularly in detecting aggressive tumor grades, and may improve diagnostic accuracy.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_03146
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Comparative Analysis of Unsupervised and Supervised Autoencoders for Nuclei Classification in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Images
Javadian, Fatemeh
Aminparast, Zahra
Stegmaier, Johannes
Jose, Abin
Image and Video Processing
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Machine Learning
I.2.10; I.4.9
This study explores the application of supervised and unsupervised autoencoders (AEs) to automate nuclei classification in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) images, a diagnostic task traditionally reliant on subjective visual grading by pathologists. We evaluate various AE architectures, including standard AEs, contractive AEs (CAEs), and discriminative AEs (DAEs), as well as a classifier-based discriminative AE (CDAE), optimized using the hyperparameter tuning tool Optuna. Bhattacharyya distance is selected from several metrics to assess class separability in the latent space, revealing challenges in distinguishing adjacent grades using unsupervised models. CDAE, integrating a supervised classifier branch, demonstrated superior performance in both latent space separation and classification accuracy. Given that CDAE-CNN achieved notable improvements in classification metrics, affirming the value of supervised learning for class-specific feature extraction, F1 score was incorporated into the tuning process to optimize classification performance. Results show significant improvements in identifying aggressive ccRCC grades by leveraging the classification capability of AE through latent clustering followed by fine-grained classification. Our model outperforms the current state of the art, CHR-Network, across all evaluated metrics. These findings suggest that integrating a classifier branch in AEs, combined with neural architecture search and contrastive learning, enhances grading automation in ccRCC pathology, particularly in detecting aggressive tumor grades, and may improve diagnostic accuracy.
title Comparative Analysis of Unsupervised and Supervised Autoencoders for Nuclei Classification in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Images
topic Image and Video Processing
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Machine Learning
I.2.10; I.4.9
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.03146