Nikita Shvetsov defending his PhD thesis at UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Image:
Petter Bjørklund / SFI Visual Intelligence

Nikita Shvetsov defending his PhD thesis at UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Successful PhD defense by Nikita Shvetsov

Congratulations to Rwiddhi Chakraborty for successfully defending his PhD thesis and achieving the PhD degree in Science at UiT The Arctic University of Norway on August 27th 2025.

Successful PhD defense by Nikita Shvetsov

Congratulations to Nikita Shvetsov for successfully defending his PhD thesis and achieving the PhD degree in Science at UiT The Arctic University of Norway on August 27th 2025!

By Petter Bjørklund, Communications Officer, SFI Visual Intelligence.

Shvetsov is a researcher at UiT Machine Learning Group and SFI Visual Intelligence. His thesis, titled "Optimizing pathology workflows: A practical deep learning approach for cell-level biomarker quantification", provides a practical, accurate, and computationally efficient approach for integrating deep learning–based cell quantification into clinical pathology workflows.

The title of Shvetsov's trial lecture was "Quantum computing, a roadmap to the impact on AI"

Shvetsov's research was featured in forskning.no, sciencenorway.no, and vg.no in May 2025. You can read more about his research below:

Forskning.no (Norwegian news article)

ScienceNorway.no (English news article)

VG.no (Norwegian news article. Behind paywall)

Summary of the thesis

Computational pathology continues to advance through deep learning. However, interactive analysis of gigapixel whole slide images remains challenging due to high computational demands and long processing times. Variability in tissue morphology and staining quality further complicates automated cell detection and quantification in clinical workflows. In this study, we present an integrated and efficient framework for simultaneous cell segmentation and classification, demonstrating its utility through the quantification of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Initially, we adapt a state‐of‐the‐art deep learning model as a baseline method for TIL quantification, achieving high segmentation and classification performance (Dice score: 0.84, F1‐score: 0.75). The results correlate with standard immunohistochemical CD8 staining and patient survival outcomes. Building on this baseline, we develop an automated pipeline (“Fast TILs”) that integrates patch extraction, the selection of prognostically significant regions, and rapid, simultaneous cell segmentation and classification. This optimized pipeline reduces processing time by approximately 95%, performing analysis in approximately four minutes per slide while achieving superior prognostic accuracy compared to conventional CD8 IHC (concordance index: 0.649 vs. 0.599). Moreover, it generates visual overlays and quantitative metrics, eliminating human sampling bias and remaining adaptable to other biomarkers. To further improve clinical usability, we refine our methodology into a lightweight model. Our multi-step development strategy involves dataset enhancement via cross‐relabeling, knowledge distillation from larger foundation models, and integration with open digital pathology platforms such as QuPath. This lightweight model demonstrates robust segmentation and classification performance (coefficient of determination: 0.749, panoptic quality score: 0.496), distinguishing between benign, malignant, and inflammatory cell populations interactively in resource‐limited clinical settings. Overall, this work provides a practical, accurate, and computationally efficient approach for integrating deep learning–based cell quantification into clinical pathology workflows. Further validation in larger patient cohorts is necessary to confirm clinical robustness and generalizability.

Supervisory Committee

  • Professor Lars Ailo Bongo, Institutt for informatikk, UiT (Main Supervisor)
  • Associate Professor Thomas Karsten Kilvær, Institutt for klinisk medisin, UiT
  • Professor Lill-Tove Rasmussen Busund, Institutt for medisinsk biologi, UiT
  • Associate Professor Kajsa Møllersen, Institutt for samfunnsmedisin, UiT

Evaluation Committee

  • 1st Opponent: Associate professor Lee A.D. Cooper, Director, Center for Computational Imaging and Signal Analytics, Chicago, USA Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
  • 2nd Opponent: Professor Tone F. Bathen, Institutt for sirkulasjon og bildediagnostikk Fakultet for medisin og helsevitenskap, NTNU
  • Internal member and leader of the committee: Associate professor Loïc Guégan, IFI, UiT

Latest news

uit.no: – UiT er langt fremme når det gjelder kunstig intelligens

August 25, 2025

Det sa digitaliseringsminister Karianne Tung (Ap) da hun besøkte UiT Norges arktiske universitet i Tromsø for å lære mer om utdanning og toppforskning på kunstig intelligens ved universitetet (Norwegian news article at uit.no)

Two successful PhD defenses within two days

August 22, 2025

Congratulations to Iver Martinsen and Durgesh Kumar Singh, who successfully defended their PhD theses at UiT The Arctic University of Norway on August 20th and 21st respectively.

Visual Intelligence at Arendalsuka 2025

August 14, 2025

Visual Intelligence brought together academia, industry, the institute sector, the Research Council of Norway, and Norwegian politics to discuss why and how Norwegian academia and industry should collaborate more closely to develop innovative artificial intelligence.

My Research Stay at Visual Intelligence: João Campagnolo

August 1, 2025

João Campagnolo is a PhD Candidate in the Neuroscience Department of the University of Copenhagen (KU). He visited SFI Visual Intelligence in Tromsø from April to May 2025.

16 EUGLOH Mobility Scholarships for NLDL Winter School 2026: Apply Now!

July 29, 2025

Students from EUGLOH partner institutions can now apply for an exclusive mobility scholarship worth 2 900 EUR for the NLDL 2026 Winter School. Application deadline October 3rd 2025

Three Visual Intelligence-authored papers accepted for leading AI conference on medical imaging

June 24, 2025

Visual Intelligence will be well represented at MICCAI 2025—one of the leading AI conferences on medical imaging and computer assisted intervention—with three recently accepted research papers.

2025 Norwegian AI Society Symposium: An insightful and collaborative event

June 23, 2025

More than 50 attendees from the Norwegian AI research community gathered in Tromsø, Norway for two days of insightful presentations, interactive technical sessions, and scientific and social interactions.

Minister of Research and Higher Education visits Visual Intelligence hub at Norwegian Computing Center

June 16, 2025

Last week, we wished Aasland—accompanied by Political Advisor Munir Jaber and Senior Adviser Finn-Hugo Markussen—welcome to the Norwegian Computing Center (NR). One of the visit's goals was to showcase ongoing Visual Intelligence projects at NR.

Visual Intelligence represented at EAGE Annual 2025

June 15, 2025

Alba Ordoñez and Anders U. Waldeland presented ongoing work on seismic foundation models and an interactive seismic interpretation engine at EAGE Annual 2025 in Toulouse, France.

Visual Intelligence PhD Fellow Eirik Østmo featured on Abels tårn

June 13, 2025

Østmo was invited to Abels tårn—one of the largest popular science radio shows in Norway—to answer listener-submitted questions related to artificial Intelligence (AI). The live show took place at Blårock Cafe in Tromsø, Norway on June 12th.

New Industrial PhD project with Kongsberg Satellite Services

June 12, 2025

VI industry partner Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) received an Industrial PhD grant from the Research Council of Norway. The project will be closely connected to Visual Intelligence's "Earth observation" innovation area.

Visual Intelligence represented at plankton-themed workshop by The Institute of Marine Research

June 11, 2025

Visual Intelligence Researchers Amund Vedal and Arnt Børre Salberg recently presented ongoing Visual Intelligence research at a plankton-themed workshop organized by the Institute of Marine Research (IMR), Norway

My Research Stay at Visual Intelligence: Teresa Dorszewski

June 5, 2025

Teresa Dorszewski is a PhD Candidate at the Section for Cognitive Systems at the Technical University of Denmark. She visited Visual Intelligence in Tromsø from January to April 2025.

Visual Intelligence represented at the NORA Annual Conference 2025

June 3, 2025

Centre Director Robert Jenssen was invited to give a keynote and participate in a panel discussion on AI as critical national infrastructure at the NORA Annual Conference 2025 in Halden, Norway.

NRK.no: Nekter å svare om umerkede puslespill er KI-generert: – De bør være ærlige

June 2, 2025

Både forskere og statsråd mener kunstig intelligens bør tydelig merkes. Men forlaget som lager puslespillet som ekspertene mener er KI-generert, sier de ikke har noe med hvordan illustratører lager produktene sine (Norwegian news article by NRK)

ScienceNorway: This is how AI can contribute to faster treatment of lung cancer

May 30, 2025

Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence to map specific immune cells in lung cancer tumors. It can lead to less costly examinations and more personalised cancer treatment (English news story on sciencenorway.no).

Now Hiring: 4 PhD Fellows in Deep Learning

May 28, 2025

The Department of Physics and Technology at UiT The Arctic University of Norway is pleased to announce 4 exciting PhD Fellowships within machine learning at SFI Visual Intelligence. Application deadline: June 17th.