An initial game-theoretic assessment of enhanced tissue preparation and imaging protocols for improved deep learning inference of spatial transcriptomics from tissue morphology

The application of deep learning to spatial transcriptomics (ST) can reveal relationships between gene expression and tissue architecture. Prior work has demonstrated that inferring gene expression from tissue histomorphology can discern these spatial molecular markers to enable population scale studies, reducing the fiscal barriers associated with large-scale spatial profiling. However, while most improvements in algorithmic performance have focused on improving model architectures, little is known about how the quality of tissue preparation and imaging can affect deep learning model training for spatial inference from morphology and its potential for widespread clinical adoption. Prior studies for ST inference from histology typically utilize manually stained frozen sections with imaging on non-clinical grade scanners. Training such models on ST cohorts is also costly. We hypothesize that adopting tissue processing and imaging practices that mirror standards for clinical implementation (permanent sections, automated tissue staining, and clinical grade scanning) can significantly improve model performance. An enhanced specimen processing and imaging protocol was developed for deep learning-based ST inference from morphology. This protocol featured the Visium CytAssist assay to permit automated hematoxylin and eosin staining (e.g. Leica Bond), 40×-resolution imaging, and joining of multiple patients' tissue sections per capture area prior to ST profiling. Using a cohort of 13 pathologic T Stage-III stage colorectal cancer patients, we compared the performance of models trained on slide prepared using enhanced versus traditional (i.e. manual staining and low-resolution imaging) protocols. Leveraging Inceptionv3 neural networks, we predicted gene expression across serial, histologically-matched tissue sections using whole slide images (WSI) from both protocols. The data Shapley was used to quantify and compare marginal performance gains on a patient-by-patient basis attributed to using the enhanced protocol versus the actual costs of spatial profiling. Findings indicate that training and validating on WSI acquired through the enhanced protocol as opposed to the traditional method resulted in improved performance at lower fiscal cost. In the realm of ST, the enhancement of deep learning architectures frequently captures the spotlight; however, the significance of specimen processing and imaging is often understated. This research, informed through a game-theoretic lens, underscores the substantial impact that specimen preparation/imaging can have on spatial transcriptomic inference from morphology. It is essential to integrate such optimized processing protocols to facilitate the identification of prognostic markers at a larger scale.