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Indirect immunofluorescence in autoimmune diseases: Assessment of digital images for diagnostic purpose
Author(s) -
Rigon Amelia,
Soda Paolo,
Zennaro Danila,
Iannello Giulio,
Afeltra Antonella
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
cytometry part b: clinical cytometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.646
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1552-4957
pISSN - 1552-4949
DOI - 10.1002/cyto.b.20356
Subject(s) - iif , indirect immunofluorescence , kappa , microscope , immunofluorescence , digital microscope , medicine , reliability (semiconductor) , fluorescence microscope , artificial intelligence , pathology , medical physics , computer science , fluorescence , physics , antibody , immunology , mathematics , optics , power (physics) , geometry , quantum mechanics
Background: The recommended method for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) detection is indirect immunofluorescence (IIF). To pursue a high image quality without artefacts and reduce interobserver variability, this study aims at evaluating the reliability of automatically acquired digital images of IIF slides for diagnostic purposes. Methods: Ninety‐six sera were screened for ANA by IIF on HEp‐2 cells. Two expert physicians looking at both the fluorescence microscope and the digital images on computer monitor performed a blind study to evaluate fluorescence intensity and staining pattern. Cohen's kappa was used as an agreement evaluator between methods and experts. Results: Considering fluorescence intensity, there is a substantial agreement between microscope and monitor analysis in both physicians. Agreement between physicians was substantial at the microscope and perfect at the monitor. Considering IIF pattern, there was a substantial and moderate agreement between microscope and monitor analysis in both physicians. Kappa between physicians was substantial both at the microscope and at the monitor. Conclusions: These preliminary results suggest that digital media is a reliable tool to help physicians in detecting autoantibodies in IIF. Our data represent a first step to validate the use of digital images, thus offering an opportunity for standardizing and automatizing the detection of ANA by IIF. © 2007 Clinical Cytometry Society