Image archives in Pathology have usually been based on selected, static images taken from the light microscope, chosen as representative of a whole case. The range of applications for such databases include some form of telediagnosis (in the form of static telepathology), tele-education, image processing and analysis, and quality control. This approach results in reasonably large archives, as often just some image is sufficient; however, some application may need to have more than the images available in this way, because there should be a total freedom in choosing observation fields.In particular, some form of telediagnosis needs the whole glass slide to be carried out successfully, and quality control too, due to its specific needs. Such needs include also a major difficuly that is delaying quality control in Pathology: the usual way for carrying out a quality control programme is to circulate specimens among participating individuals or institutions, collecting their diagnostic answers. Because cytologic specimens are not duplicable, sequential delivery of the same material is mandatory, with obvious temporal restrictions. For the above reasons, researchers are studying new ways of transforming the traditional glass slide used in Pathology into a digital form, in order to introduce the equivalent of digital PACS in histo- and cyto-pathology. However, such transformation is not easy, due to the large storage needed. The present paper discusses techniques and issues for the digital storage of Pathology slides
Digital storage of pathology slides on the Internet: techniques and issues
Demichelis, Francesca;
2001-01-01
Abstract
Image archives in Pathology have usually been based on selected, static images taken from the light microscope, chosen as representative of a whole case. The range of applications for such databases include some form of telediagnosis (in the form of static telepathology), tele-education, image processing and analysis, and quality control. This approach results in reasonably large archives, as often just some image is sufficient; however, some application may need to have more than the images available in this way, because there should be a total freedom in choosing observation fields.In particular, some form of telediagnosis needs the whole glass slide to be carried out successfully, and quality control too, due to its specific needs. Such needs include also a major difficuly that is delaying quality control in Pathology: the usual way for carrying out a quality control programme is to circulate specimens among participating individuals or institutions, collecting their diagnostic answers. Because cytologic specimens are not duplicable, sequential delivery of the same material is mandatory, with obvious temporal restrictions. For the above reasons, researchers are studying new ways of transforming the traditional glass slide used in Pathology into a digital form, in order to introduce the equivalent of digital PACS in histo- and cyto-pathology. However, such transformation is not easy, due to the large storage needed. The present paper discusses techniques and issues for the digital storage of Pathology slidesI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
