Quantitative Assessment of Ciliary Ultrastructure with the Use of Automatic Analysis: PCD Quant
Andrea Felšöová,
Tibor Sloboda,
Lukáš Hudec,
Miroslav Koblížek,
Petr Pohunek,
Vendula Martinů,
Žofia Varényiová,
Simona Kadlecová,
Jiří Uhlík
Affiliations
Andrea Felšöová
Department of Histology and Embryology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, V Úvalu 84, 150 06 Prague 5, Czech Republic
Tibor Sloboda
Institute of Computer Engineering and Applied Informatics, Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies, Slovak University of Technology, Ilkovicova 2, 84216 Bratislava, Slovakia
Lukáš Hudec
Institute of Computer Engineering and Applied Informatics, Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies, Slovak University of Technology, Ilkovicova 2, 84216 Bratislava, Slovakia
Miroslav Koblížek
Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, V Úvalu 84, 150 06 Prague 5, Czech Republic
Petr Pohunek
Department of Paediatrics, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, V Úvalu 84, 150 06 Prague 5, Czech Republic
Vendula Martinů
Department of Paediatrics, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, V Úvalu 84, 150 06 Prague 5, Czech Republic
Žofia Varényiová
Department of Paediatrics, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, V Úvalu 84, 150 06 Prague 5, Czech Republic
Simona Kadlecová
Department of Histology and Embryology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, V Úvalu 84, 150 06 Prague 5, Czech Republic
Jiří Uhlík
Department of Histology and Embryology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, V Úvalu 84, 150 06 Prague 5, Czech Republic
The ciliary ultrastructure can be damaged in various situations. Such changes include primary defects found in primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) and secondary defects developing in secondary ciliary dyskinesia (SCD). PCD is a genetic disease resulting from impaired ciliary motility causing chronic disease of the respiratory tract. SCD is an acquired condition that can be caused, for example, by respiratory infection or exposure to tobacco smoke. The diagnosis of these diseases is a complex process with many diagnostic methods, including the evaluation of ciliary ultrastructure using transmission electron microscopy (the golden standard of examination). Our goal was to create a program capable of automatic quantitative analysis of the ciliary ultrastructure, determining the ratio of primary and secondary defects, as well as analysis of the mutual orientation of cilia in the ciliary border. PCD Quant, a program developed for the automatic quantitative analysis of cilia, cannot yet be used as a stand-alone method for evaluation and provides limited assistance in classifying primary and secondary defect classes and evaluating central pair angle deviations. Nevertheless, we see great potential for the future in automatic analysis of the ciliary ultrastructure.
