Virtual slides: high-quality demand, physical limitations, and affordability.

Virtual slides (VSs) have been around since the beginning of telepathology. As recently as a couple of years ago, only single small images could be acquired, and their distribution was limited to e-mail at best. Today, whole slides can be acquired, covering an area up to 100,000 times larger than that possible only a few years ago. Moreover, advanced Internet and world-wide web technologies enable delivery of those images to a broad audience. Despite considerable advances in technology, few good examples of VSs for public use can be found on the web. One of the reasons for this is a lack of sophisticated and integrated commercial solutions covering the needs from acquisition to delivery at reasonable cost. This article describes physical and technical limitations of the VS technology to clarify the demands on a VS acquisition system. A new type of web-based VS viewer (vMic; http://alf3.urz.unibas.ch/vmic/) open to public use is introduced, allowing anyone to set up a VS system with high usability at low cost.

[1]  A M Marchevsky,et al.  "Virtual microscopy" and the internet as telepathology consultation tools: diagnostic accuracy in evaluating melanocytic skin lesions. , 1999, The American Journal of dermatopathology.

[2]  R S Weinstein,et al.  Telepathology overview: from concept to implementation. , 2001, Human pathology.

[3]  F. Demichelis,et al.  The virtual case: a new method to completely digitize cytological and histological slides , 2002, Virchows Archiv.

[4]  D R Butler,et al.  Clinical evaluation of an international static image-based telepathology service. , 2001, Human pathology.

[5]  T Harris,et al.  Comparison of a virtual microscope laboratory to a regular microscope laboratory for teaching histology , 2001, The Anatomical record.

[6]  F J Leong,et al.  Automated complete slide digitization: a medium for simultaneous viewing by multiple pathologists , 2001, The Journal of pathology.

[7]  Vito Roberto,et al.  Visualization issues in telepathology: the role of the Internet Imaging Protocol , 2001, Proceedings Fifth International Conference on Information Visualisation.

[8]  R S Weinstein,et al.  Telepathology and the networking of pathology diagnostic services. , 1987, Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine.

[9]  S. Cross,et al.  Telepathology: current status and future prospects in diagnostic histopathology , 2002, Histopathology.

[10]  James Duncan,et al.  Integrated approach to teaching and testing in histology with real and virtual imaging , 2002, The Anatomical record.

[11]  R P Singson,et al.  Virtual microscopy and the Internet as telepathology consultation tools. A study of gastrointestinal biopsy specimens. , 1999, American journal of clinical pathology.