Digital Pathology is the name with which currently all those techniques related to the digitization of histo- and cytologic images are identified. In particular, it refers to the digitization of the complete glass slide (called “digital slide”), which is a recently available feature due to the storage and performance of modern computers (1). Part of the quality assurance process in Pathology is carried out through aptitude tests made usually on glass slides, which should be examined by the subjects and their answers should then be compared with the consensus diagnoses of an expert panel. This is in turn achieved by making glass slides circulate among Institutions, or by gathering together people to be examined in sessions occurring during Congresses or seminars. Examples of the cited approaches are the NEQAS UK breast screening scheme and the European QUATE aptitude test (2). In Italy, healthcare quality assurance is carried out at regional level, under the control of the regional Healthcare System. Unfortunately, glass slides are unique and fragile, thus it is difficult to have the people examined on the same material, in particular when it is of cytologic kind. As at present strong limitations are imposed to quality control programmes by the nature of the diagnostic material (NEQAS: six months of specimen circulation for every session; QUATE: on average, about 50 tested subjects per year, in Europe). A solution comes with digital pathology: as digital slides can be replicated and distributed through networks or removable media, they could overcome the glass slide uniqueness and fragility. The present paper proposes a scheme for quality assurance based on digital pathology, studied inside the eQual Project
Quality Assurance through Digital Pathology: the eQual Project
Demichelis, Francesca;
2002-01-01
Abstract
Digital Pathology is the name with which currently all those techniques related to the digitization of histo- and cytologic images are identified. In particular, it refers to the digitization of the complete glass slide (called “digital slide”), which is a recently available feature due to the storage and performance of modern computers (1). Part of the quality assurance process in Pathology is carried out through aptitude tests made usually on glass slides, which should be examined by the subjects and their answers should then be compared with the consensus diagnoses of an expert panel. This is in turn achieved by making glass slides circulate among Institutions, or by gathering together people to be examined in sessions occurring during Congresses or seminars. Examples of the cited approaches are the NEQAS UK breast screening scheme and the European QUATE aptitude test (2). In Italy, healthcare quality assurance is carried out at regional level, under the control of the regional Healthcare System. Unfortunately, glass slides are unique and fragile, thus it is difficult to have the people examined on the same material, in particular when it is of cytologic kind. As at present strong limitations are imposed to quality control programmes by the nature of the diagnostic material (NEQAS: six months of specimen circulation for every session; QUATE: on average, about 50 tested subjects per year, in Europe). A solution comes with digital pathology: as digital slides can be replicated and distributed through networks or removable media, they could overcome the glass slide uniqueness and fragility. The present paper proposes a scheme for quality assurance based on digital pathology, studied inside the eQual ProjectI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
