Use Of Digital Microscopy Research Articles

The use of telepathology in veterinary medicine: a scoping review.

Telepathology, as a subset of teleconsulting, is pathology interpretation performed at a distance. Telepathology is not a new phenomenon, but since ~2015, significant advances in information technology and telecommunications coupled with the pandemic have led to unprecedented sophistication, accessibility, and use of telepathology in human and veterinary medicine. Furthermore, telepathology can connect veterinary practices to distant laboratories and provide support for underserved animals and communities. Through our scoping review, we provide an overview of how telepathology is being used in veterinary medicine, identify gaps in the literature, and highlight future areas of research and service development. We searched MEDLINE, CAB Abstracts, and the gray literature, and included all relevant literature. Despite the widespread use of digital microscopy in large veterinary diagnostic laboratories, we identified a paucity of literature describing the use of telepathology in veterinary medicine, with a significant gap in studies addressing the validation of whole-slide imaging for primary diagnosis. Underutilization of telepathology to support postmortem examinations conducted in the field was also identified, which indicates a potential area for service development. The use of telepathology is increasing in veterinary medicine, and pathologists must keep pace with the changing technology, ensure the validation of innovative technologies, and identify novel uses to advance the profession.

The use of digital microscopy as a teaching method for human pathology: a systematic review.

Since digital microscopy (DM) has become a useful alternative to conventional light microscopy (CLM), several approaches have been used to evaluate students' performance and perception. This systematic review aimed to integrate data regarding the use of DM for education in human pathology, determining whether this technology can be an adequate learning tool, and an appropriate method to evaluate students' performance. Following a specific search strategy and eligibility criteria, three electronic databases were searched and several articles were screened. Eight studies involving medical and dental students were included. The test of performance comprised diagnostic and microscopic description, clinical features, differential, and final diagnoses of the specimens. The students' achievements were equivalent, similar or higher using DM in comparison with CLM in four studies. All publications employed question surveys to assess the students' perceptions, especially regarding the easiness of equipment use, quality of images, and preference for one method. Seven studies (87.5%) indicated the students' support of DM as an appropriate method for learning. The quality assessment categorized most studies as having a low bias risk (75%). This study presents the efficacy of DM for human pathology education, although the high heterogeneity of the included articles did not permit outlining a specific method of performance evaluation.

The Use of Digital Microscopy to Compare the Thicknesses of Normal Corneas and Ex Vivo Rejected Corneal Grafts with a Focus on the Descemet's Membrane.

Objective To compare the thickness of corneal layers, specifically the Descemet's membrane (DM), in normal corneas and in failed grafts due to rejection (FGRs) using the digital histopathology and to propose a model for the measurement of corneal layers using this method. Methods This is a prospective, cross-sectional study performed at the MUHC-McGill University Ocular Pathology & Translational Research Laboratory (McGill University, Montreal, Canada). Histopathological sections of 25 normal human corneas and 40 FGRs were fully digitalized and examined. Inclusion criteria: samples diagnosed as normal corneas or FGRs, from patients older than 18 years of age. Exclusion criteria: histopathological sections without adequate tissue or missing epidemiological information. For each sample, the thicknesses of the epithelium, stroma, and DM were acquired. From a perpendicular plane of reference, two central measurements and two nasal and two temporal peripheral measurements were obtained. Results There were differences between the normal and FGR groups in the mean central thickness of the epithelium (p < 0.001), the nasal and temporal stromal regions (p < 0.001), and of the DM in the nasal and temporal regions (p < 0.001). Compared with the extremities of the sample (nasal and temporal), the mean thickness of the DM in normal corneas was lower in the central region (p < 0.001), and this difference was not found in the FGR group. Conclusions Normal corneas have a thinner epithelium in the central region than the FGR group. In addition, the stroma and DM thicknesses of the nasal and temporal periphery were significantly higher in normal corneas than in those from the FGR group. The digital microscopy protocol applied in this study may be useful for further research studies regarding cornea and other tissues.

Digital Microscopy: A New Method for Histology Teaching

The use of digital microscopy combined with Internet facilities has increased in the Histology and Pathology teaching. The aim of this study was evaluated the use of digital microscopy on Histology teaching in the Rio de Janeiro State University. For this, tissue and organ slides were digitalized with Pannoramic Midi (3DHistech, Budapeste) and histological structures were identified in the images using Pannoramic viewer (3DHistech). A script was prepared to facilitate the visualization of the image set of each histologic topic by the students. At the end of classes, students’ opinions about digital microscopy were assessed by a voluntary questionnaire, either in paper. In addition, students (n=59) made the histological diagnose test in two forms: image projection and online test. The students’ grades in each test were compared using paired t test. From 2013 to 2015, the digital microscopy was evaluated by 114 dental students, which assigned informed consent term. The majority of students (77 percent) found the digital microscopy easy to use, and 96 percent reported that digital microscopy facilitated the identification of the specific structures. Fifty‐five percent of students said they learned with digital microscopy more than with microscopic based study. In addition, only 30 percent of students reported that they preferred the microscopic lessons. There was no significant difference between students’ grades when compared to practical tests with image (7.8 ± 2.0) and online test (7.6 ± 2.0) (p&gt;0.05). In conclusion, digital microscopy was found to be evaluated very positively by dental and medical students and may improve learning and productivity in the histology classes.Support or Funding InformationCoordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) – Edital Pró‐Ensino em Saúde; Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support in the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ).

Digital microscopy: a new method for histology teaching

The use of digital microscopy combined with Internet facilities has increased in the Histology and Pathology teaching. The aim of this study was evaluated the use of digital microscopy on Histology teaching in the Rio de Janeiro State University. For this, tissue and organ slides were digitalized with Pannoramic Midi (3DHistech, Budapeste). Subsequently, histological structures were identified in the images using Pannoramic viewer (3DHistech). A script was prepared to facilitate the visualization of the image set of each histologic topic by the students. At the end of classes, students answered a questionnaire comparing microscopic based learning lessons to digital microscopy lessons. The digital microscopy was evaluated by 60 dental and 97 medical students from 2013 to 2014. The majority of students (83 percent) found the digital microscopy easy to use, and 89 percent reported that digital microscopy facilitated the identification of the specific structures. A total of 48 percent of students said they learned with digital microscopy more than with microscopic based study. In addition, only 34 percent of students reported that they preferred the microscopic lessons. In conclusion, digital microscopy was found to be evaluated very positively by dental and medical students and may improve learning and productivity in the histology classesFinancial support: Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) – Edital Pró‐Ensino em Saúde.

Histopathology in 3D: From three-dimensional reconstruction to multi-stain and multi-modal analysis

Light microscopy applied to the domain of histopathology has traditionally been a two-dimensional imaging modality. Several authors, including the authors of this work, have extended the use of digital microscopy to three dimensions by stacking digital images of serial sections using image-based registration. In this paper, we give an overview of our approach, and of extensions to the approach to register multi-modal data sets such as sets of interleaved histopathology sections with different stains, and sets of histopathology images to radiology volumes with very different appearance. Our approach involves transforming dissimilar images into a multi-channel representation derived from co-occurrence statistics between roughly aligned images.

Dental Students’ Perceptions of the Use of Digital Microscopy as Part of an Oral Pathology Curriculum

Recent technological advances have allowed the computer to be turned into a microscope and therefore entailed a shift from light microscopy to digital microscopy (DM). Recent studies have shown that DM is gaining popularity in multiple academic fields, including dentistry. The aim of this study was to assess the perceptions of Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine-Illinois second-year dental students of the use of DM as a component of the institution's oral and maxillofacial pathology curriculum. After 129 students utilized DM in an oral and maxillofacial pathology course, they were asked to complete a voluntary survey regarding their perceptions of the use of DM. A total of 123 students responded, for a response rate of 95 percent; 112 of these were included in the final analysis. Nearly all the respondents (92 percent) favored DM over light microscopy. Almost all (98 percent) agreed that the digital microscope enhanced their learning, and 97 percent agreed that it allowed for greater collaboration among peers. These findings support the implementation of DM as the primary teaching methodology in the field of oral and maxillofacial pathology.

Evolutionary Algorithm for Optimizing Parameters of GPGPU-based Image Segmentation

The use of digital microscopy allows diagnosis through automated quantitative and qualitative analysis of the digital images. Often to evaluate the samples, the first step is determining the number and location of cell nuclei. For this purpose, we have developed a GPGPU based data-parallel region growing algorithm that is equally as accurate as the already existing sequential versions, but its speed is two or three times faster (implementing in CUDA environment), but this algorithm is very sensitive to the appropriate setting of different parameters. Due to the large number of parameters and due to the big set of possible values setting those parameters manually is a quite hard task, so we have developed a genetic algorithm to optimize these values. Our evolution-based algorithm that is described in this paper was used to successfully determine a set of parameters that compared to the results with the previously known best set of parameters means a significantly improvement.

Blood Group Typing in the AB0 System Using Digital Microscopy

The use of digital microscopy for human blood group typing is described. It is shown by experiment that the combination of digital microscopy with enhancement of erythrocyte agglutination using standing ultrasonic waves yields resolving power of about or more than three orders of magnitude. Such reliable detection of erythrocyte agglutination could provide a basis for development of a blood typing instrument based on digital microscopy.

Content-based histopathology image retrieval using a kernel-based semantic annotation framework

Large amounts of histology images are captured and archived in pathology departments due to the ever expanding use of digital microscopy. The ability to manage and access these collections of digital images is regarded as a key component of next generation medical imaging systems. This paper addresses the problem of retrieving histopathology images from a large collection using an example image as query. The proposed approach automatically annotates the images in the collection, as well as the query images, with high-level semantic concepts. This semantic representation delivers an improved retrieval performance providing more meaningful results. We model the problem of automatic image annotation using kernel methods, resulting in a unified framework that includes: (1) multiple features for image representation, (2) a feature integration and selection mechanism (3) and an automatic semantic image annotation strategy. An extensive experimental evaluation demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed framework to build meaningful image representations for learning and useful semantic annotations for image retrieval.

Critical Comparison of 31 Commercially Available Digital Slide Systems in Pathology

Advances in new technologies for complete slide digitization in pathology have allowed the appearance of a wide spectrum of technologic solutions for whole-slide scanning, which have been classified into motorized microscopes and scanners. This article describes technical aspects of 31 different digital microscopy systems. The most relevant characteristics of the scanning devices are described, including the cameras used, the speed of digitization, and the image quality. Other aspects, such as the file format, the compression techniques, and the solutions for visualization of digital slides, (including diagnosis-aided tools) are also considered. Most of the systems evaluated allow a high-resolution digitization of the whole slide within about 1 hour using a x40 objective. The image quality of the current virtual microscopy systems is suitable for clinical, educational, and research purposes. The efficient use of digital microscopy by means of image analysis systems can offer important benefits to pathology departments.

The Effect of Heat Treatment on the Corrosion Behavior of X-Ray-Amorphous Chromium Electroplates on Copper

The morphology and anodic behavior of heat-treated X-ray-amorphous chromium electroplates on copper are investigated with the use of digital microscopy and slow voltammetry in 1 N sulfuric acid solutions, respectively. The temperature of heat treatment substantially affects the behavior of a coating predetermined by the existence of pores and cracks, which may originate from blisters and somatoids formed during the electrodeposition. The treatment at 100°C improves the protective properties of a coating. In a temperature range from 100 to 400°C, the coating undergoes cracking, which results in the formation of pores and a noticeable increase in the dissolution currents. However, at 500°C, the protective properties of the coating increase again, seemingly due to the thermal oxidation of copper, which results in sealing through pores and cracks in the coating. At a temperature of 600°C, the protective properties finally disappear because of the phase transition of copper oxide in pores and the crystallization of the coating itself.

Use of digital microscopy in process control during the manufacture of rubber-modified thermoplastics

The production of rubber modified thermoplastics can exceed rates of 30,000 pounds per hour. If a production plant needs to equilibrate or has an upset, that means operating costs and lost revenue. Results of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) can be used for process adjustments to minimize product loss. Conventional TEM, however, is not a rapid turnaround technique. The TEM process was examined, and it was determined that 50% of the time it took to complete a polymer sample was related to film processing, even when using automated equipment. By replacing the conventional film portion of the process with a commercially available system to digitally acquire the TEM image, a production plant can have the same TEM image in the control room within 1.5 hours of sampling.A Hitachi H-600 TEM Operated at 100 kV with a tungsten filament was retrofitted with a SEMICAPS™ image collection and processing workstation and a KODAK MEGAPLUS™ charged coupled device (CCD) camera (Fig. 1). Media Cybernetics Image-Pro Plus software was included, and connections to a Phaser II SDX printer and the network were made. Network printers and other PC and Mac software (e.g. NIH Image) were available. By using digital acquisition and processing, the time it takes to produce a hard copy of a digital image is greatly reduced compared to the time it takes to process film.