Multichannel Convolution Neural Network Classification for the Detection of Histological Pattern in Prostate Biopsy Images

The analysis of digital microscopy images plays a vital role in computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) and prognosis. The main purpose of this paper is to develop a machine learning technique to predict the histological grades in prostate biopsy. To perform a multiclass classification, an AI-based deep learning algorithm, a multichannel convolutional neural network (MCCNN) was developed by connecting layers with artificial neurons inspired by the human brain system. The histological grades that were used for the analysis are benign, grade 3, grade 4, and grade 5. The proposed approach aims to classify multiple patterns of images extracted from the whole slide image (WSI) of a prostate biopsy based on the Gleason grading system. The Multichannel Convolution Neural Network (MCCNN) model takes three input channels (Red, Green, and Blue) to extract the computational features from each channel and concatenate them for multiclass classification. Stain normalization was carried out for each histological grade to standardize the intensity and contrast level in the image. The proposed model has been trained, validated, and tested with the histopathological images and has achieved an average accuracy of 96.4%, 94.6%, and 95.1%, respectively.