Telepathology: a diagnostic tool for the millennium?

Wells, Clive; Sowter, C.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1096-9896(200005)191:1<1::aid-path624>3.0.co;2-s

Cited by 77 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Our present study confirms the belief of many histopathologists that telepathology remains a technology looking for an application. 2 Our study shows that practical experience of telepathology is uncommon among histopathologists in the UK. Consequently, there is an understandable scepticism with regard to the technology and its ability to enhance conventional methods of practice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

The use of digital imaging, video conferencing, and telepathology in histopathology: a national survey

Dennis

Start²,

Cross³

2005

J Clin Pathol

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Aims:To undertake a large scale survey of histopathologists in the UK to determine the current infrastructure, training, and attitudes to digital pathology.Methods:A postal questionnaire was sent to 500 consultant histopathologists randomly selected from the membership of the Royal College of Pathologists in the UK.Results:There was a response rate of 47%. Sixty four per cent of respondents had a digital camera mounted on their microscope, but only 12% had any sort of telepathology equipment. Thirty per cent used digital images in electronic presentations at meetings at least once a year and only 24% had ever used telepathology in a diagnostic situation. Fifty nine per cent had received no training in digital imaging. Fifty eight per cent felt that the medicolegal implications of duty of care were a barrier to its use. A large proportion of pathologists (69%) were interested in using video conferencing for remote attendance at multidisciplinary team meetings.Conclusions:There is a reasonable level of equipment and communications infrastructure among histopathologists in the UK but a very low level of training. There is resistance to the use of telepathology in the diagnostic context but enthusiasm for the use of video conferencing in multidisciplinary team meetings.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

The use of digital imaging, video conferencing, and telepathology in histopathology: a national survey

Dennis

Start²,

Cross³

2005

J Clin Pathol

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“…[1][2][3] It is now possible to view high quality real time colour images and to control all aspects of a robotic microscope at a remote location. 4 With the availability of usable telepathology systems there is a need to research the uses that can be made of such systems and the human factors that are important in their use.…”

mentioning

confidence: 92%

Offline telepathology diagnosis of colorectal polyps: a study of interobserver agreement and comparison with glass slide diagnoses

Cross¹,

Burton²,

Dube³

et al. 2002

Journal of Clinical Pathology

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Background/Aims: Technological advances have produced telepathology systems with high quality colour images and reasonable transmission times. Most applications of telepathology have centred on the remote diagnosis of frozen sections or remote real time expert opinions. This study investigates the reproducibility and accuracy of offline telepathology as a primary diagnostic medium for routine histopathology specimens. Methods: One hundred colorectal polyps (50 hyperplastic, 50 adenomatous) were presented in a randomised order to five histopathologists as offline images on a telepathology workstation. Six images of each case were used: the slide label, a low power scan of all material on the slide, and four higher magnification views. The times taken to prepare the images, and to make the diagnoses, were recorded. Interobserver agreement was measured with κ statistics and compared with the glass slide diagnoses. Results: The κ statistics for the interobserver agreement on the telepathology images lay in the range of 0.90-1.00, which is interpreted as excellent agreement, and were significantly higher than those for the glass slide diagnoses (range, 0.84-0.98; p = 0.001). The median time taken to capture the images for a case was 210 seconds. The median time taken to make a diagnosis from the telepathology images was five seconds, which was significantly shorter than for the glass slide diagnoses (median, 13 seconds; p < 0.0005). Conclusions: Offline telepathology has the potential to be a primary diagnostic medium for routine histopathology with a high degree of reproducibility and short diagnosis times. Further studies are required to validate offline telepathology for different types of specimens and different operators of the image capture system.

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“…19,21 The second type is dynamic robotic telepathology, which is the transmission of real-time images from robotic microscope so that distant operators have complete control over the received images. 16,19,22 The major drawback of this method is its high cost, but its advantages include controlling image viewing with no sampling errors. The third type is hybrid telepathology, which involves simultaneous transmission of both realtime microscopy and static images.…”

Section: Telepathology: Applications and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Informatics for practicing anatomical pathologists: marking a new era in pathology practice

Gabril

Yousef

2010

Modern Pathology

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Informatics can be defined as using highly advanced technologies to improve patient diagnosis or management. Pathology informatics had evolved as a response to the overwhelming amount of information that was available, in an attempt to better use and maintain them. The most commonly used tools of informatics can be classified into digital imaging, telepathology, as well as Internet and electronic data mining. Digital imaging is the storage of anatomical pathology information, either gross pictures or microscopic slides, in an electronic format. These images can be used for education, archival, diagnosis, and consultation. Virtual microscopy is the more advanced form of digital imaging with enhanced efficiency and accessibility. Telepathology is now increasingly becoming a useful tool in anatomical pathology practice. Different types of telepathology communications are available for both diagnostic and consultation services. The spectrum of applications of informatics in the field of anatomical pathology is broad and encompasses medical education, clinical services, and pathology research. Informatics is now settling on solid ground as an important tool for pathology teaching, with digital teaching becoming the standard tool in many institutions. After a slow start, we now witness the transition of informatics from the research bench to bedside. As we are moving into a new era of extensive pathology informatics utilization, several challenges have to be addressed, including the cost of the new technology, legal issues, and resistance of pathologists. It is clear from the current evidence that pathology informatics will continue to grow and have a major role in the future of our specialty. However, it is also clear that it is not going to fully replace the human factor or the regular microscope. Modern Pathology (2010) 23, 349-358; doi:10.1038/modpathol.2009; published online 15 January 2010 Keywords: informatics; pathology; telepathology; digital imaging; virtual microscopy; computer This review is directed to practicing anatomical pathologists, especially in non-academic institutions, pathology residents, and medical staff to draw their attention to the emerging and rapidly growing field of informatics in pathology practice. Our objective is to provide a simplified, yet comprehensive, overview of the diverse applications of informatics in anatomical pathology, the challenges faced in our transition into an era of pathology informatics, and a vision of how informatics could be incorporated into our practice in the near future. We will start by defining pathology informatics. We will then summarize the spectrum of applications of informatics in pathology and the overview of the most commonly used informatics tools. We will also address some of the challenges that are faced in the transition to the era of pathology informatics and provide a glimpse into the future of pathology informatics. We will try as much as we can, to avoid technical details and sophistications regarding specific applications, referring the re...

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Telepathology: a diagnostic tool for the millennium?

Cited by 77 publications

References 27 publications

The use of digital imaging, video conferencing, and telepathology in histopathology: a national survey

The use of digital imaging, video conferencing, and telepathology in histopathology: a national survey

Offline telepathology diagnosis of colorectal polyps: a study of interobserver agreement and comparison with glass slide diagnoses

Informatics for practicing anatomical pathologists: marking a new era in pathology practice

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