Geometry-Aware Cell Detection with Deep Learning

Automated diagnostic microscopy powered by deep learning is useful, particularly in rural areas. However, there is no general method for object detection of different cells. In this study, we developed GFS-ExtremeNet, a geometry-aware deep-learning method which is based on the detection of four extreme key points for each object (topmost, bottommost, rightmost, and leftmost) and its center point. A postprocessing step, namely, adjacency spectrum, was employed to measure whether the distances between the key points were below a certain threshold for a particular cell candidate. Our newly proposed geometry-aware deep-learning method outperformed other conventional object detection methods and could be applied to any type of cell with a certain geometrical order. Our GFS-ExtremeNet approach opens a new window for the development of an automated cell detection system.