Label-Free Identification of White Blood Cells Using Machine Learning

Mariam Nassar, Minh Doan, Andrew Filby, Olaf Wolkenhauer, Darin K. Fogg, Justyna Piasecka, Catherine A. Thornton, Anne E. Carpenter, Huw D. Summers, Paul Rees, Holger Hennig

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

47 Scopus citations

Abstract

White blood cell (WBC) differential counting is an established clinical routine to assess patient immune system status. Fluorescent markers and a flow cytometer are required for the current state-of-the-art method for determining WBC differential counts. However, this process requires several sample preparation steps and may adversely disturb the cells. We present a novel label-free approach using an imaging flow cytometer and machine learning algorithms, where live, unstained WBCs were classified. It achieved an average F1-score of 97% and two subtypes of WBCs, B and T lymphocytes, were distinguished from each other with an average F1-score of 78%, a task previously considered impossible for unlabeled samples. We provide an open-source workflow to carry out the procedure. We validated the WBC analysis with unstained samples from 85 donors. The presented method enables robust and highly accurate identification of WBCs, minimizing the disturbance to the cells and leaving marker channels free to answer other biological questions. It also opens the door to employing machine learning for liquid biopsy, here, using the rich information in cell morphology for a wide range of diagnostics of primary blood.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)836-842
Number of pages7
JournalCytometry Part A
Volume95
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019

Keywords

  • high-content analysis
  • imaging flow cytometry
  • label-free classification
  • liquid biopsy
  • lymphocytes
  • machine learning
  • personalized medicine
  • white blood cell count
  • white blood cells

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pathology and Forensic Medicine
  • Histology
  • Cell Biology

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