Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Jul 15;3 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S15.
doi: 10.1186/1746-1596-3-S1-S15.

Issues for application of virtual microscopy to cytoscreening, perspectives based on questionnaire to Japanese cytotechnologists

Ichiro Mori  1 , Osamu Nunobiki, Takashi Ozaki, Emiko Taniguchi, Kennichi Kakudo
Affiliations

Issues for application of virtual microscopy to cytoscreening, perspectives based on questionnaire to Japanese cytotechnologists

Ichiro Mori et al. Diagn Pathol. .

Abstract

To clarify the issues associated with the applications of virtual microscopy to the daily cytology slide screening, we conducted a survey at a slide conference of cytology. The survey was conducted specifically to the Japanese cytology technologists who use microscopes on a routine basis. Virtual slides (VS) were prepared from cytology slides using NanoZoomer (Hamamatsu Photonics, Japan), which is capable of adjusting focus on any part of the slide. A total of ten layers were scanned from the same slides, with 2 micrometer intervals. To simulate the cytology slide screening, no marker points were created. The total data volume of six slides was approximately 25 Giga Bytes. The slides were stored on the Windows 2003 Server, and were made accessible on the web to the cytology technologists. Most cytotechnologists answered "Satisfied" or "Acceptable" to the VS resolution and drawing speed, and "Dissatisfied" to the operation speed. To the ten layered focus, an answer "insufficient" was slightly more frequent than the answer "sufficient", while no one answered "fewer is acceptable" or "no need for depth". As for the use of cytology slide screening, answers "usable, but requires effort" and "not usable" were about equal in number. In a Japanese cytology meeting, a unique VS system has been used in slide conferences with markings to the discussion point for years. Therefore, Japanese cytotechnologists are relatively well accustomed to the use of VS, and the survey results showed that they regarded VS more positively than we expected. Currently, VS has the acceptable resolution and drawing speed even on the web. Most cytotechnologists regard the focusing capability crucial for cytology slide screening, but the consequential enlargement of data size, longer scanning time, and slower drawing speed are the issues that are yet to be resolved.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Satisfaction level. Relatively high in resolution but low in operation speed.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Sufficiency of the ten layered focus. An answer "insufficient" was slightly more frequent than the answer "sufficient".
Figure 3
Figure 3
Usability for cytology slide screening. More cytotechnologist who actually viewed the VS of NanoZoomer answered "usable, but requires effort" while who didn't viewed answered "not usable".
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hanai J. Application of Virtual Microscope in routine pathology diagnosis at mid-sized general hospital in Japan. Journal of 6th General Meeting of the Japanese Research Society of Telepathology and Pathology Informatics. 2007.
    1. Oshiro M. Digitalization of pathology slide and the construction of the support system for remote diagnosis consultation. Eizojoho Medical. 2007;39:831–835.
    1. Toyoda Y. Virtual slide scanner corresponding to Fluorescent microscopy and and Z-stack picture acquisition. Journal of 6th General Meeting of the Japanese Research Society of Telepathology and Pathology Informatics. 2007.
    1. Washiya K. Microscope Imaging Technology that mimic real microscope observation. Exhibition of know-how and accumulation of the cases. The Japanese Cytotechnologist's Bulletin. 2004;36:3–5.