Fig. 2

Boxplots of collagen fiber features among patients with a clinically indicated diagnostic breast biopsy (65 breast cancer cases and 73 controls) by overall biopsy diagnosis and within the normal, benign and malignant regions of interest (ROI) on H&E-stained breast biopsy sections. a Average fiber length: higher values indicate longer fibers. b Median fiber straightness (values between 0 and 100): higher values indicate straighter fibers, while lower values indicate curvier fibers. c. Average fiber width: higher values indicate thicker fibers, while lower values indicate thinner fibers. d Median fiber alignment (values between 0 and 100): higher values indicate greater isotropic alignment of fibers, while lower values indicate fibers are more randomly ordered. e Fiber density: higher values indicate greater number of fibers per 100 μm². f Median fiber orientation (values between 0° and 90°): measures the angle of the collagen fiber with respect to the boundary surrounding the epithelial cells in the ROI