Digital vs traditional: Are diagnostic accuracy rates similar for glass slides vs whole slide images in a non‐gynaecological external quality assurance setting?

Ross, Jennifer; Greaves, Janelle; Earls, Peter; Shulruf, Boaz; Es, Simone L. Van

doi:10.1111/cyt.12552

Cited by 20 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In addition, anatomic pathology and cytopathology quality assurance programmes have already adopted it to ensure safe diagnostic expertise. 20 , 21 Thus, the continuum of undergraduate–postgraduate learning of VM is now an established need. Continuing efforts and validation have brought VM into the realm of diagnostic histopathology with some centres having taken the leap to exclusive digital practice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Microscopy in Undergraduate Pathology Education

Lakhtakia

2021

Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J

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Objectives: Whole-slide imaging (WSI) and virtual microscopy (VM) have revolutionized teaching, diagnosis and research in histopathology. The aims of this study were to establish the feasibility of achieving early integration of clinical reasoning with undergraduate pathology teaching on a virtual microscopy platform and, to determine its student-centricity through student feedback. Methods: Thirty-eight VM-centered clinical cases were introduced to forty-nine students in an integrated undergraduate medical curriculum. The cases were aligned to curricular objectives, reinforced the pathologic basis of disease with critical thinking and were delivered across fifteen interactive small-group sessions. A simulated cross-disciplinary integration and judicious choice of pertinent diagnostic investigations was linked to principles of management. Feedback was obtained through a mixed-methods approach. Results: User-friendliness, gradual learning curve of VM and annotation-capacity were scored 4-5 on a Likert scale of 1-5 by 91.84%, 87.75% and 83.67% students respectively. Students agreed on content-match to the stage of learning (81.63%), theme of the week (91.84%) and development of a strong clinical foundation (77.5%). Integration (85.71%) and clinico-pathological correlation (83.67%) were strengths of this educational effort. High student attendance (~100%) and improved assessment scores on critical thinking (80%) were observed. Software lacunae included frequent logouts and lack of note-taking tools. Easy access was a significant student-centric advantage. Conclusion: A VM-centered approach with clinico-pathological correlation has been successfully introduced to inculcate integrated learning. Using the pathologic basis of disease as fulcrum and critical reasoning as anchor, a digitally-enabled generation of medical students have embraced this educational tool for tutor-guided, student-centered learning. Keywords: virtual, digital, pathology, microscopy, medical education

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Microscopy in Undergraduate Pathology Education

Lakhtakia

2021

Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J

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“…Several studies have evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of current z-plane stacking methods. [3031323334] The diagnostic accuracy of stacking 20 z-plane levels was equivalent to glass slide microscopy as evaluated by 24 experienced cytologists. [32] Another impact evaluation found no statistically significant difference in diagnostic accuracy between the quality assessment of a digital slide generated from stacking three to five z-plane levels and a glass slide.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Super-Resolution Digital Pathology Image Processing of Bone Marrow Aspirate and Cytology Smears and Tissue Sections

Singh

Ohgami

2018

Journal of Pathology Informatics

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Background:Accurate digital pathology image analysis depends on high-quality images. As such, it is imperative to obtain digital images with high resolution for downstream data analysis. While hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained tissue section slides from solid tumors contain three-dimensional information, these data have been ignored in digital pathology. In addition, in cytology and bone marrow aspirate smears, the three-dimensional nature of the specimen has precluded efficient analysis of such morphologic data. An individual image snapshot at a single focal distance is often not sufficient for accurate diagnoses and multiple whole-slide images at different focal distances are necessary for diagnostics.Materials and Methods:We describe a novel computational pipeline and processing program for obtaining a super-resolved image from multiple static images at different z-planes in overlapping but separate frames. This program, MULTI-Z, performs image alignment, Gaussian smoothing, and Laplacian filtering to construct a final super-resolution image from multiple images.Results:We applied this algorithm and program to images of cytology and H&E-stained sections and demonstrated significant improvements in both resolution and image quality by objective data analyses (24% increase in sharpness and focus).Conclusions:With the use of our program, super-resolved images of cytology and H&E-stained tissue sections can be obtained to potentially allow for more optimal downstream computational analysis. This method is applicable to whole-slide scanned images.

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“…19,23,24 Other than proficiency testing, the standardised, fully accessible slide can be the base for quality control programmes. Indeed, as stated by Ross et al 52 , some specimen types do not lend themselves in sufficient volume to permit enough slides to be prepared, and the same applies to some diagnostic entities, so these are underrepresented in quality assurance programmes. WSI allows scanning of these fastidious cases once and for all, increasing the variety of the programme, and eliminates the issue that slides have to be prepared again and checked, thus reducing efforts to ensure standardisation of diagnostic material.…”

Section: Area Of Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…WSI allows scanning of these fastidious cases once and for all, increasing the variety of the programme, and eliminates the issue that slides have to be prepared again and checked, thus reducing efforts to ensure standardisation of diagnostic material. 52 Finally, most of software for image analysis has started to accept WSI. Traditional image analysis on cytological specimens with segmentation of objects and extraction of measurement data 53 can be enhanced with WSI.…”

Section: Area Of Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current state of whole slide imaging use in cytopathology: Pros and pitfalls

Eccher¹,

Girolami²

2020

Cytopathology

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Whole slide imaging (WSI) allows generation of large whole slide images and their navigation with zoom in and out like a true virtual microscope. It has become widely used in surgical pathology for many purposes, such as education and training, research activity, teleconsultation, and primary diagnosis. However, in cytopathology, the use of WSI has been lagging behind histology, mainly due to the cytological specimen's characteristics, as groups of cells of different thickness are distributed throughout the slide. To allow the same focusing capability of light microscope, slides have to be scanned at multiple focal planes, at the cost of longer scan times and larger file size. These are the main technical pitfalls of WSI for cytopathology, partly overcome by solutions like liquid‐based preparations. Validation studies for the use in primary diagnosis are less numerous and more heterogeneous than in surgical pathology. WSI has been proved effective for training students and successfully used in proficiency testing, allowing the creation of digital cytology atlases. Longer scan times are also a barrier for use in rapid on‐site evaluation, but WSI retains its advantages of easy sharing of images for consultation, multiple simultaneous viewing in different locations, the possibility of unlimited annotations and easy integration with medical records. Moreover, digital slides set the laboratory free from reliance on a physical glass slide, with no more concern of fading of stain or slide breakage. Costs are still a problem for small institutions, but WSI can also represent the beginning of a more efficient way of working.

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Digital vs traditional: Are diagnostic accuracy rates similar for glass slides vs whole slide images in a non‐gynaecological external quality assurance setting?

Cited by 20 publications

References 29 publications

Virtual Microscopy in Undergraduate Pathology Education

Virtual Microscopy in Undergraduate Pathology Education

Super-Resolution Digital Pathology Image Processing of Bone Marrow Aspirate and Cytology Smears and Tissue Sections

Current state of whole slide imaging use in cytopathology: Pros and pitfalls

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