Multiple instance (MI) learning with a convolutional neural network enables end-to-end training in the presence of weak image-level labels. We propose a new method for aggregating predictions from smaller regions of the image into an image-level classification by using the quantile function. The quantile function provides a more complete description of the heterogeneity within each image, improving image-level classification. We also adapt image augmentation to the MI framework by randomly selecting cropped regions on which to apply MI aggregation during each epoch of training. This provides a mechanism to study the importance of MI learning. We validate our method on five different classification tasks for breast tumor histology and provide a visualization method for interpreting local image classifications that could lead to future insights into tumor heterogeneity.

本研究提出了使用分位数函数汇聚图像小区域预测结果的多实例学习方法，以及在随机裁剪区域上应用多实例聚合的图像增强方法，该方法在乳腺肿瘤组织分类中进行了五种不同任务的验证，并提供了一种可视化方法以解释局部图像分类，这可能有助于对肿瘤异质性的未来洞见。

异质图像多实例学习：用CNN进行组织病理学训练