Automated quantitative fluorescent image analysis of cervical cytology

Cervical cytology from 122 patients with histories of one or more abnormal Pap smears were studied using slide-based automated quantitative fluorescence image analysis (QFIA) in order to determine the usefulness of the QFIA technique in detecting neoplasias. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the accuracy and validity of QFIA as a cytological method for the early detection of cervical cancer, based on comparisons with the conventional Pap smear and histopathology. The results of the analysis demonstrated that the sensitivity of the automated QFIA cytology was 100% for high-grade neoplasms (CIN III and invasive carcinoma), compared with 82% for the Pap smear. Evaluation of lower grade neoplasms was also performed. Initial analyses of the data indicate that QFIA, which uses objective biochemical criteria to identify cells with increased nuclear nucleic acid content, is a more sensitive detector of cervical neoplasia of all grades than is conventional Pap cytology.