HEAL: an automated deep learning framework for cancer histopathology image analysis.

Abstract

Digital pathology supports analysis of histopathological images using deep learning methods at a large-scale. However, applications of deep learning in this area have been limited by the complexities of configuration of the computational environment and of hyperparameter optimization, which hinder deployment and reduce reproducibility. Here, we propose HEAL, a deep learning-based automated framework for easy, flexible and multi-faceted histopathological image analysis. We demonstrate its utility and functionality by performing two case studies on lung cancer and one on colon cancer. Leveraging the capability of Docker, HEAL represents an ideal end-to-end tool to conduct complex histopathological analysis and enables deep learning in a broad range of applications for cancer image analysis. The docker image of HEAL is available at https://hub.docker.com/r/docurdt/heal and related documentation and datasets are available at http://heal.erc.monash.edu.au. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.