journal article·2026-05-15Open access

From Label‐Free Multiphoton Imaging to Pathological Reports: A Vision‐Language Breast Cancer Margin Pathological Diagnosis System

Shu Wang, Jingze Su, Xiahui Han, Deyong Kang, Xiao Zhang, Fei Xu, Changzu Liu, Junlin Pan, Xingfu Wang, Qiaohui Zhan, Aimin Wang, Feng Huang, Heping Cheng, Wenxi Liu, Ruolan Lin, Jianxin Chen

Abstract

ABSTRACT Margin pathological assessment provides critical feedback for breast‐conserving surgery, whereas H&E‐stained histopathology focuses on residual tumor and may cause unnecessary resections. Label‐free multiphoton microscopy (MPM) reveals tumor‐associated collagen signatures (TACS) at the margin, offering a prognostically relevant diagnostic information. However, limited familiarity of novel MPM images by pathologists has prevented its integration into diagnostic workflows. Here, we introduce MarginPath, a Margin Pathological diagnosis system built on an MPM‐language model that requires only a single label‐free section. By integrating MPM‐derived TACS with virtual H&E diagnostic information, MarginPath provides a multimodal diagnostic report, including: (i) a MPM image and corresponding virtual H&E image, (ii) a TACS‐based pixel‐level margin‐status heatmap, and (iii) detailed natural‐language diagnostic descriptions of tumor margin microenvironment. Validated on 158 invasive breast cancer specimens, MarginPath outperforms existing pathology vision‐language models in margin diagnosis and can be extended into a question‐answering system, enhancing both clinical decision‐support and patient communication.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques · Cell Image Analysis Techniques · Photoacoustic and Ultrasonic Imaging

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation Fuzhou University Fuzhou China

National Biomedical Imaging Center State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology Institute of Molecular Medicine Peking‐Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences College of Future Technology Peking University Beijing China

Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonics Technology Key Laboratory of OptoElectronic Science and Technology for Medicine of Ministry of Education Fujian Normal University Fuzhou China

College of Computer and Data Science Fuzhou University Fuzhou China

Department of Pathology Fujian Medical University Union Hospital Fuzhou China

Department of Pathology The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University Fuzhou China

Department of Breast Surgery The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen Medical College Xiamen China

State Key Laboratory of Photonics and Communications School of Electronics Peking University Beijing China

Department of Radiology Fujian Medical University Union Hospital Fuzhou China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province · Fujian Provincial Health Technology Project

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