Deep Learning-Based Fixation Type Prediction for Quality Assurance in Digital Pathology

作者：Oskar Thaeter, T. Niedermair, Jan E. G. Albin, J. Raffler, Ralf Huss, Peter J. Schüffler · 发表于：arXiv.org · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.48550/arxiv.2602.08652 · 研究领域：Computer Science

Accurate annotation of fixation type is a critical step in slide preparation for pathology laboratories. However, this manual process is prone to errors, impacting downstream analyses and diagnostic accuracy. Existing methods for verifying formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE), and frozen section (FS) fixation types typically require full-resolution whole-slide images (WSIs), limiting scalability for high-throughput quality control. We propose a deep-learning model to predict fixation types using low-resolution, pre-scan thumbnail images. The model was trained on WSIs from the TUM Institute of Pathology (n=1,200, Leica GT450DX) and evaluated on a class-balanced subset of The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset (TCGA, n=8,800, Leica AT2), as well as on class-balanced datasets from Augsburg (n=695 [392 FFPE, 303 FS], Philips UFS) and Regensburg (n=202, 3DHISTECH P1000). Our model achieves an AUROC of 0.88 on TCGA, outperforming comparable pre-scan methods by 4.8%. It also achieves AUROCs of 0.72 on Regensburg and Augsburg slides, underscoring challenges related to scanner-induced domain shifts. Furthermore, the model processes each slide in 21 ms, $400\times$ faster than existing high-magnification, full-resolution methods, enabling rapid, high-throughput processing. This approach provides an efficient solution for detecting labelling errors without relying on high-magnification scans, offering a valuable tool for quality control in high-throughput pathology workflows. Future work w...