Classification of parasite eggs used as an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API)

The aim of the project is to describe the developmental stages of parasite eggs using digital image analysis of multispectral imagery. The primary focus is to identify and count eggs of different developmental stages and distinguish them from unrelated particles. This information is used to assess the pharmaceutical potency of eggs from the parasite Trichuris suis (pig whipworm), used as an active pharmaceutical ingredient in medicine against chronic autoimmune diseases of the intestines such as Crohn's disease and Ulcerative colitis. The analysis will combine spectral and morphological characteristics in order to first detect and then classify the parasite eggs based on a set of biologically inspired, quantitative features. The egg classification is currently done manually using transmitted light microscopy, but to allow for validation of this process and to reduce the operator bias, an automated system is being developed. The developed procedure should be robust, non-invasive and fast, and could potentially have applications in description of other organisms. An initial analysis was carried out as a proof of concept. The detection of embryonated eggs was done using matched filtering and the classification was based on the orientation of the larva inside the egg: The ratio of longitudinal vs. latitudinal ‘lines’ inside the egg is higher for eggs containing a larva.