PEDEGO, a research unit at the University of Oulu, covers a wide range of topics primarily around pediatrics, obstetrics, and gynecology. The metabolic health group within this unit has several ongoing clinical trials related to reproductive and metabolic health in women, including the function of the endometrium in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS affects 10-18% of fertile-aged women, and many present with complications such as metabolic syndrome and infertility. It is also highly linked to obesity, with diabetes and hypertension as common comorbidities.
The inner lining of the uterus, the endometrium, is a hormone responsive tissue and consists of epithelium tightly connected with underlying stromal cells, allowing for a strong relationship between the layers. Women with PCOS present with an altered endometrial function related to steroid hormones or metabolic issues contributing to infertility. We interviewed Marika Kangasmiemi, MD and PhD student at the University of Oulu, on her experience with Aiforia® Create to study the endometrium in different phases of the menstrual cycle.
"Endometrial samples from 2 different patient groups and from different phases of the menstrual cycle were analyzed so that endometrial leukocytes and proliferative cells were counted, separately in epithelium and stroma."
"Endometrial tissue is dynamic, and the amount of stroma and epithelium differs a lot between patients and cycle phases; even samples from the same patient are different. Still, those two compartments are very different and cannot be analyzed as a whole one unit. This separation has earlier been very manual and time consuming. Now Aiforia did this automatedly."
"It was the first deep learning solution that we heard of, and luckily for us, it's originally from Finland, which was also a significant factor. After some preliminary testing this solution seemed to work and we decided to go for it."
"Pretty easy user interface. Still, understanding all image processing terms and their effect on algorithms was quite difficult, but we got help for that from Aiforia staff."
"Aiforia made it possible to analyze hundreds of whole slide images by separating stroma and epithelium and then counting target cells. Manually, the whole project might not have been possible."
Read the full publication here: Artificial intelligence deep learning model assessment of leukocyte counts and proliferation in endometrium from women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome
References
Mayo Clinic. (2021). Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pcos/symptoms-causes/syc-20353439a