Advance Laboratory: Benefits of Digital Pathology

Here's a nice article in Advance Laboratory on the Benefits of Digital Pathology:

Digital pathology is having a major impact in improving the delivery of results for pathologists, researchers and laboratories around the world.

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To understand the significance of digital pathology, one needs to first understand some of the limitations associated with traditional microscope use, including single field of view/single magnification viewing, manual slide analysis, physical reliance of a microscope and cumbersome archival and retrieval. Microscope-based pathology also makes it difficult to manage large volumes of glass slides, perform quantitative/qualitative analysis of cellular detail or facilitate secondary consultations or the sharing of information with colleagues, which often requires physically transporting the glass slide to a specialized pathologist in a remote location.

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Once a glass slide has been digitized, specialized server software makes it possible to access, view and navigate around digital slide images via the Internet. Since a digital slide is a complete representation of the glass microscope slide, it transforms a computer monitor into a virtual microscope and a platform for sharing information simultaneously throughout a pathology community.

Good stuff from my colleague Raymond Tecotsky.