Deep learning in mesoscale brain image analysis: A review

Runze Chen; Min Liu; Weixun Chen; Yaonan Wang; Erik Meijering

doi:10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.107617

Deep learning in mesoscale brain image analysis: A review

Comput Biol Med. 2023 Dec:167:107617. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.107617. Epub 2023 Oct 27.

Authors

Runze Chen¹, Min Liu², Weixun Chen¹, Yaonan Wang¹, Erik Meijering³

Affiliations

¹ College of Electrical and Information Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory for Robot Visual Perception and Control Technology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China.
² College of Electrical and Information Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory for Robot Visual Perception and Control Technology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China; Research Institute of Hunan University in Chongqing, Chongqing, 401135, China. Electronic address: liu_min@hnu.edu.cn.
³ School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, New South Wales, Australia.

PMID: 37918261
DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.107617

Abstract

Mesoscale microscopy images of the brain contain a wealth of information which can help us understand the working mechanisms of the brain. However, it is a challenging task to process and analyze these data because of the large size of the images, their high noise levels, the complex morphology of the brain from the cellular to the regional and anatomical levels, the inhomogeneous distribution of fluorescent labels in the cells and tissues, and imaging artifacts. Due to their impressive ability to extract relevant information from images, deep learning algorithms are widely applied to microscopy images of the brain to address these challenges and they perform superiorly in a wide range of microscopy image processing and analysis tasks. This article reviews the applications of deep learning algorithms in brain mesoscale microscopy image processing and analysis, including image synthesis, image segmentation, object detection, and neuron reconstruction and analysis. We also discuss the difficulties of each task and possible directions for further research.

Keywords: Brain imaging; Deep learning; Image analysis; Image processing; Light microscopy.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Algorithms
Brain / diagnostic imaging
Deep Learning*
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / methods
Microscopy