TITAN: An end-to-end data analysis environment for the Hyperion™ imaging system.

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology and Biomedical Imaging
• Computational Biology and Bioinformatics

Background:

• Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC) is a high-throughput technique for analyzing up to 37 markers in fixed tissue sections while preserving spatial relationships.
• Current IMC data processing and analysis require multiple software, complex pipelines, diverse operating systems, and bioinformatics expertise, limiting accessibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce TITAN, an open-source, end-to-end pipeline for IMC data visualization, segmentation, analysis, and export.
• To provide a unified and user-friendly environment for IMC data analysis, reducing technical barriers for researchers.

Main Methods:

• TITAN is developed as an extension for the publicly available 3D Slicer software, integrating all analysis steps into a single environment.
• The pipeline's utility, reliability, and comparability were demonstrated using publicly available IMC datasets from breast cancer and COVID-19 lung injury studies.

Main Results:

• TITAN successfully visualizes, segments, and analyzes IMC data within a single, integrated environment.
• The pipeline demonstrated reliable and comparable results when applied to diverse IMC datasets.
• TITAN significantly enhances user-friendliness and efficiency compared to existing IMC analysis methods.

Conclusions:

• TITAN offers an accessible, efficient, and comprehensive solution for Imaging Mass Cytometry data analysis.
• This open-source pipeline democratizes IMC data analysis, enabling broader adoption and research applications across various biological studies.