mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

A Comprehensive Review of Computer-aided Whole-slide Image Analysis: from Datasets to Feature Extraction, Segmentation, Classification, and Detection Approaches

arXiv 2102.10553 ↗First posted 21 Feb 2021cs.CV cs.AIcited by 44

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Abstract (arXiv)

With the development of computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) and image scanning technology, Whole-slide Image (WSI) scanners are widely used in the field of pathological diagnosis. Therefore, WSI analysis has become the key to modern digital pathology. Since 2004, WSI has been used more and more in CAD. Since machine vision methods are usually based on semi-automatic or fully automatic computers, they are highly efficient and labor-saving. The combination of WSI and CAD technologies for segmentation, classification, and detection helps histopathologists obtain more stable and quantitative analysis results, save labor costs and improve diagnosis objectivity. This paper reviews the methods of WSI analysis based on machine learning. Firstly, the development status of WSI and CAD methods are introduced. Secondly, we discuss publicly available WSI datasets and evaluation metrics for segmentation, classification, and detection tasks. Then, the latest development of machine learning in WSI segmentation, classification, and detection are reviewed continuously. Finally, the existing methods are studied, the applicabilities of the analysis methods are analyzed, and the application prospects of the analysis methods in this field are forecasted.

Key facts. Cited by 44 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 32 of its 295 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 21 Feb 2021.

Builds on

32 of 295 references.

References · 32

  1. 2014Deep Visual-Semantic Alignments for Generating Image Descriptionscited by 966
  2. 2018Object Detection with Deep Learning: A Reviewcited by 524
  3. 2015Patch-based Convolutional Neural Network for Whole Slide Tissue Image Classificationcited by 159
  4. 2016Deep Learning for Identifying Metastatic Breast Cancercited by 93
  5. 2017Machine learning methods for histopathological image analysiscited by 79
  6. 2018Predicting breast tumor proliferation from whole-slide images: the TUPAC16 challengecited by 61
  7. 2018Whole-Slide Mitosis Detection in H&E Breast Histology Using PHH3 as a Reference to Train Distilled Stain-Invariant Convolutional Networkscited by 57
  8. 2019Deep Learning for Whole Slide Image Analysis: An Overviewcited by 51
  9. 2017Domain-adversarial neural networks to address the appearance variability of histopathology imagescited by 41
  10. 2019Simulation of hyperelastic materials in real-time using Deep Learningcited by 35
  11. 2018Classification and Disease Localization in Histopathology Using Only Global Labels: A Weakly-Supervised Approachcited by 33
  12. 2018DeepDownscale: a Deep Learning Strategy for High-Resolution Weather Forecastcited by 28
20 more
  1. 2020RMDL: Recalibrated multi-instance deep learning for whole slide gastric image classificationcited by 28
  2. 2017Deep-Learning for Classification of Colorectal Polyps on Whole-Slide Imagescited by 26
  3. 2018Adversarial Domain Adaptation for Classification of Prostate Histopathology Whole-Slide Imagescited by 21
  4. 2014Assessment of algorithms for mitosis detection in breast cancer histopathology imagescited by 16
  5. 2018Terabyte-scale Deep Multiple Instance Learning for Classification and Localization in Pathologycited by 16
  6. 2019CAGNet: Content-Aware Guidance for Salient Object Detectioncited by 16
  7. 2020Gastric histopathology image segmentation using a hierarchical conditional random fieldcited by 16
  8. 2018A Deep Learning Algorithm for One-step Contour Aware Nuclei Segmentation of Histopathological Imagescited by 15
  9. 2017ScanNet: A Fast and Dense Scanning Framework for Metastatic Breast Cancer Detection from Whole-Slide Imagescited by 13
  10. 2019Whole-Slide Image Focus Quality: Automatic Assessment and Impact on AI Cancer Detectioncited by 12
  11. 2018Reinforced Auto-Zoom Net: Towards Accurate and Fast Breast Cancer Segmentation in Whole-slide Imagescited by 11
  12. 2018Deep Barcodes for Fast Retrieval of Histopathology Scanscited by 9
  13. 2018Improving Whole Slide Segmentation Through Visual Context - A Systematic Studycited by 9
  14. 2020A Multi-scale CNN-CRF Framework for Environmental Microorganism Image Segmentationcited by 9
  15. 2017Learning to Segment Breast Biopsy Whole Slide Imagescited by 8
  16. 2017Context-aware stacked convolutional neural networks for classification of breast carcinomas in whole-slide histopathology imagescited by 7
  17. 2019An attention-based multi-resolution model for prostate whole slide imageclassification and localizationcited by 7
  18. 2017Classification and Retrieval of Digital Pathology Scans: A New Datasetcited by 6
  19. 2017Comparison of Different Methods for Tissue Segmentation in Histopathological Whole-Slide Imagescited by 5
  20. 2020A deep learning based multiscale approach to segment cancer area in liver whole slide imagecited by 2

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Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2021: 5; 2022: 16; 2023: 8; 2024: 7; 2025: 5; 2026: 3.

44 papers.

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  1. 2021TransMIL: Transformer based Correlated Multiple Instance Learning for Whole Slide Image Classificationcited by 549
  2. 2022Bi-directional Weakly Supervised Knowledge Distillation for Whole Slide Image Classificationcited by 42
  3. 2023DiffMix: Diffusion Model-based Data Synthesis for Nuclei Segmentation and Classification in Imbalanced Pathology Image Datasetscited by 28
  4. 2023Diagnose Like a Pathologist: Transformer-Enabled Hierarchical Attention-Guided Multiple Instance Learning for Whole Slide Image Classificationcited by 27
  5. 2023FICE: Text-Conditioned Fashion Image Editing With Guided GAN Inversioncited by 21
  6. 2022EBHI-Seg: A Novel Enteroscope Biopsy Histopathological Haematoxylin and Eosin Image Dataset for Image Segmentation Taskscited by 15
  7. 2023Rotation-Agnostic Image Representation Learning for Digital Pathologycited by 15
  8. 2021A State-of-the-art Survey of Object Detection Techniques in Microorganism Image Analysis: From Classical Methods to Deep Learning Approachescited by 12
  9. 2022Global Contrast Masked Autoencoders Are Powerful Pathological Representation Learnerscited by 11
  10. 2025PathoHR: Breast Cancer Survival Prediction on High-Resolution Pathological Imagescited by 9
  11. 2022Weakly-Supervised Deep Learning Model for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Gleason Grading of Histopathology Imagescited by 8
  12. 2021A State-of-the-art Survey of Artificial Neural Networks for Whole-slide Image Analysis:from Popular Convolutional Neural Networks to Potential Visual Transformerscited by 7
32 more
  1. 2022Application of Transfer Learning and Ensemble Learning in Image-level Classification for Breast Histopathologycited by 6
  2. 2022GradMix for nuclei segmentation and classification in imbalanced pathology image datasetscited by 6
  3. 2024M4: Multi-Proxy Multi-Gate Mixture of Experts Network for Multiple Instance Learning in Histopathology Image Analysiscited by 6
  4. 2022Deep Image Clustering with Contrastive Learning and Multi-scale Graph Convolutional Networkscited by 5
  5. 2023Breast Cancer Histopathology Image based Gene Expression Prediction using Spatial Transcriptomics data and Deep Learningcited by 5
  6. 2024DiffKillR: Killing and Recreating Diffeomorphisms for Cell Annotation in Dense Microscopy Imagescited by 5
  7. 2022Feature Re-calibration based Multiple Instance Learning for Whole Slide Image Classificationcited by 4
  8. 2024Diagnostic Text-guided Representation Learning in Hierarchical Classification for Pathological Whole Slide Imagecited by 4
  9. 2022EBHI:A New Enteroscope Biopsy Histopathological H&E Image Dataset for Image Classification Evaluationcited by 3
  10. 2022Nuclei & Glands Instance Segmentation in Histology Images: A Narrative Reviewcited by 3
  11. 2024FALFormer: Feature-aware Landmarks self-attention for Whole-slide Image Classificationcited by 3
  12. 2021EMDS-7: Environmental Microorganism Image Dataset Seventh Version for Multiple Object Detection Evaluationcited by 2
  13. 2021Product Re-identification System in Fully Automated Defect Detectioncited by 2
  14. 2022TOD-CNN: An Effective Convolutional Neural Network for Tiny Object Detection in Sperm Videoscited by 2
  15. 2022A Comparative Study of Gastric Histopathology Sub-size Image Classification: from Linear Regression to Visual Transformercited by 2
  16. 2023PHE-SICH-CT-IDS: A Benchmark CT Image Dataset for Evaluation Semantic Segmentation, Object Detection and Radiomic Feature Extraction of Perihematomal Edema in Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhagecited by 2
  17. 2024MECFormer: Multi-task Whole Slide Image Classification with Expert Consultation Networkcited by 2
  18. 2025HyperPath: Knowledge-Guided Hyperbolic Semantic Hierarchy Modeling for WSI Analysiscited by 2
  19. 2022A Comprehensive Survey with Quantitative Comparison of Image Analysis Methods for Microorganism Biovolume Measurementscited by 1
  20. 2022An application of Pixel Interval Down-sampling (PID) for dense tiny microorganism counting on environmental microorganism imagescited by 1
  21. 2023ECPC-IDS:A benchmark endometrail cancer PET/CT image dataset for evaluation of semantic segmentation and detection of hypermetabolic regionscited by 1
  22. 2025Slide-Level Prompt Learning with Vision Language Models for Few-Shot Multiple Instance Learning in Histopathologycited by 1
  23. 2026Prototype-driven fusion of pathology and spatial transcriptomics for interpretable survival predictioncited by 1
  24. 2026WSI-INR: Implicit Neural Representations for Lesion Segmentation in Whole-Slide Imagescited by 1
  25. 2022A State-of-the-art Survey of U-Net in Microscopic Image Analysis: from Simple Usage to Structure Mortificationcited by 0
  26. 2022Application of Graph Based Features in Computer Aided Diagnosis for Histopathological Image Classification of Gastric Cancercited by 0
  27. 2023Semi-supervised ViT knowledge distillation network with style transfer normalization for colorectal liver metastases survival predictioncited by 0
  28. 2024HistoSegCap: Capsules for Weakly-Supervised Semantic Segmentation of Histological Tissue Type in Whole Slide Imagescited by 0
  29. 2024Robust Ensemble Person Re-Identification via Orthogonal Fusion with Occlusion Handlingcited by 0
  30. 2025SparseFocus: Learning-based One-shot Autofocus for Microscopy with Sparse Contentcited by 0
  31. 2025Joint Modelling Histology and Molecular Markers for Cancer Classificationcited by 0
  32. 2026A Robust Point Cloud Analysis Framework Inspired By Primary Visual Cortexcited by 0