Digital pathology

Digital Pathology is an image-based information environment enabled by computer technology that allows for the management of information generated from a digital slide. Digital pathology is enabled in part by virtual microscopy, which is the practice of converting glass slides into digital slides that can be viewed, managed, and analyzed.

Digital Pathology Environment
Scan

Digital slides are created from glass slides using a scanning device. Digital pathology requires high quality scans free of dust, scratches, and other obstructions.

View

Digital slides are accessible for viewing via a computer monitor and viewing software either locally or remotely via the Internet.

Example: digital pathology tissue slide stained with Her2/neu biomarker used for diagnosis of breast cancer.

Manage

Digital slides are maintained in an information management system that allows for archival and intelligent retrieval.

Analyze

Image analysis tools are used to derive objective quantification measures from digital slides. Pattern recognition and visual search tools are used to classify specimen imagery and identify medically significant regions of digital slides.

Integrate

Digital pathology workflow is integrated into the institution's overall operational environment.

Sharing

Digital pathology also allows internet information sharing for education, diagnostics, publication and research.