Tissue segmentation annotation for pathology

Label tissue compartments and morphological regions in whole-slide images. Build reviewed segmentation datasets with clear class definitions and full-resolution slide geometry.
Tissue Segmentation example with source-data annotations and contextual photographs.

Represent tissue structure as labeled regions

Capture tissue areas at the scale and granularity defined by your computational pathology task.
Histology with epithelial tissue regions segmented.

Epithelium and glandular tissue

Label epithelial and glandular tissue regions with the categories in your segmentation protocol.
Histology with a stromal tissue region outlined and labeled.

Stroma and connective tissue

Outline stromal compartments and connective tissue while preserving the surrounding histology context.
Histology with a necrotic tissue region annotated.

Necrotic tissue regions

Mark necrotic areas as a distinct tissue class when they are part of the annotation task.
Whole-slide tissue foreground distinguished from blank slide background.

Tissue and background separation

Distinguish tissue-bearing regions from blank slide background using a consistent foreground labeling rule.

Why AI Teams Choose Unitlab

Bring pathology annotation, shared ontologies, expert review, and dataset delivery into one workflow so your team can focus on useful training data.
15X
Faster Pathology Annotation
60%
Free Up AI Engineers’ Time
5X
Lower AI Development Costs

Annotation types for tissue segmentation

Match each cellular or tissue task to precise outlines, masks, points, and structured annotation properties.
Histology field with colored tissue-region segmentation masks.

Tissue masks

Label the area belonging to each tissue class with segmentation regions in the original slide coordinates.

Region contours

Outline morphological regions with polygons when the training task requires explicit boundaries.

Histology with a stromal tissue region outlined and labeled.

Tissue Segmentation FAQs

What is pathology tissue segmentation?

It labels regions of tissue in histology images according to a defined class scheme, creating training examples for computational pathology segmentation models.

Can I create a custom tissue taxonomy?

Yes. Define the tissue types, compartments, and properties that match your protocol rather than relying on a fixed list of labels.

Can I work at different slide scales?

Yes. Tiled navigation lets annotators move between broader tissue context and detailed regions while working in the source slide.

What is the difference between a tissue mask and contour?

A mask describes a labeled area, while a contour explicitly traces its boundary. Choose the geometry that matches your model and annotation guidelines.

Can I label regions that are difficult to distinguish?

Use your protocol’s uncertainty rules and reviewer comments to handle ambiguous transitions. Specialist review can determine the accepted class and boundary.

Can I label tissue and blank slide background separately?

Yes. Define tissue or background classes where your dataset needs a foreground distinction, and apply consistent rules around slide edges and empty regions.

Which whole-slide image formats can I annotate?

Supported inputs include SVS, AVS, NDPI, SCN, BIF, SVSLIDE, tiled TIFF, and single-file OME-BigTIFF slides. Tiled navigation lets teams inspect large slides at different zoom levels.

How can pathology experts review the labels?

Reviewers inspect cellular or tissue boundaries in slide context, discuss uncertain regions, and return corrections through the configured workflow. Shared classes keep the annotation protocol consistent.

Are slide coordinates preserved in exported annotations?

Yes. Pathology labels retain the original full-resolution raster coordinate space. Supported formats include COCO, YOLO, and Unitlab Unified Export Format, depending on the annotation data you need.