Emerging paradigm of virtual-microscopy for histopathology diagnosis: survey of US and Canadian oral pathology trainees

Ngozi N Nwizu,Kalu U E Ogbureke,Adepitan Owosho

doi:10.1038/bdjopen.2017.13

Ngozi N Nwizu, Kalu U E Ogbureke + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/bdjopen.2017.13

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Journal: BDJ Open	Publication Date: Jul 28, 2017
Citations: 4	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Abstract

Objectives/Aims:The application of virtual microscopy (VM) to research, pre-doctoral medical and dental educational training, and diagnostic surgical and anatomic pathology is well-documented but its application to the field of oral and maxillofacial pathology has not been explored. This is the first study to evaluate the enthusiasm and readiness of US-/Canada-based oral and maxillofacial pathology (OMFP) residents toward employing VM use over conventional microscopy (CM) for diagnostic purposes.Materials and Methods:All 46 current US-/Canada-based OMFP residents were invited to participate in an anonymous electronic survey via ‘Survey Monkey’ in 2015. The survey comprised sixteen multiple choice questions and two ‘free text’ questions.Results:14% of respondents of the 22 (48%) respondents who completed the survey indicated a willingness to substitute CM with VM in <5 years, and 33% within 10 years. 52% reported they would never substitute CM with VM. Approximately 10 and 57% of respondents thought VM will become an acceptable sole diagnostic tool in most centers within 5 and 10 years, respectively. These findings are irrespective of the fact that overall, 90% of respondents reported being familiar with VM use.Discussion:VM technology is unlikely to substitute CM in diagnostic oral and maxillofacial histopathology practice among future OMFP practitioners in the foreseeable future.

Highlights

The concept of virtual microscopy (VM) has gained considerable attention within the last two decades
An email listing of all current residents in the United States as at year 2015, obtained from the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology (AAOMP) site, was used to invite all oral and maxillofacial pathology (OMFP) residents in the United States and Canada to participate in our anonymous electronic survey that same year
Virtual microscopy was first introduced into the digital landscape of histopathology almost twenty years ago

Summary

Introduction

The concept of virtual microscopy (VM) has gained considerable attention within the last two decades. VM is commonly used in research settings[1,2,3] and has been incorporated into the histology, pathology and oral pathology curricula of several educational institutions for the training of its medical and dental students.[4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13] In many of these instructional settings the response to the introduction of VM has been overwhelmingly positive, sometimes resulting in a complete phase out of conventional microscopy (CM).[4,7,9,10] Commonly adduced reasons for its popularity relative to CM include ease of navigation while maintaining orientation, better or at par image quality, and facilitation of learning through inclusion of digital annotations and legends with additional informational text.[6,13,14]

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