Results of VM pilot

The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and the RCPA Quality Assurance Program, with support from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, has introduced Virtual Microscope Technology into the practice of pathology.

The Aperio ScanScope was installed at the Anatomical Pathology QAP office. The equipment is capable of scanning diagnostic slides and creating digital images that can be magnified in a similar fashion to light microscopy. The image files are compressed and then reproduced on a DVD-ROM for viewing on a personal computer.

Examples of virtual microscope images are available at the Aperio website www.aperio.com

These digital images have many applications in clinical, research and educational arenas. In particular, virtual microscopy offers the possibility of extending the range of cases provided in QAP to include small specimens frequently encountered in pathology practice. This was previously impossible when glass slides were the only means of creating survey material.

Many pathologists have presented conference slide seminars using virtual microscope images on DVD and some copies are available through the Royal College of Pathologists Australasia website.

If you are interested in utilising our scanning service for your stained histology slides, please contact us for an obligation free quote.

A questionnaire to assess IT requirements was completed and the results are available here.

The project has allowed virtual microscopy to be readily accessible by pathology personnel and the use of virtual microscope images as survey material commenced in diagnostic modules of the Quality Assurance Program in 2006. The majority of pathologists have availed themselves of opportunities to become familiar with the new technology and a smooth transition to these images has been made at most institutions.

Instructions for viewing VM images on DVD
Instructions for viewing VM images on the website

This site will continue to be updated with information regarding virtual microscopy in the future.

Contact us anatomical.pathology@rcpaqap.com.au

VIRTUAL MICROSCOPE REQUIREMENTS

ImageScope® viewing software can be provided on disk or downloaded from website www.Aperio.com free of charge with no licence requirements. The software on the website is continually upgraded and is available now to anyone interested in virtual microscopy.

The software is present on sample discs and can be installed by opening the file called ImageScope.exe and following the installation guide.

The software can also be downloaded by visiting the Aperio website using a Broadband (ADSL) internet connection, by selecting "Support" and "Download" from the menu. (Detailed instructions on use of the software are also available here). Some institutions may have "firewalls" in place that prevent the downloading of software, so check with your IT support if you have any difficulties.

Once the software is present on your computer, the images can be opened by double clicking on the file name.

While the software can be loaded onto PCs with older operating systems and smaller size processors, the large file sizes can cause the images to be slow to load to the screen. The minimum specifications below should allow access to the images from a DVD-ROM but the ideal specifications should allow viewing of the images from DVD-ROM, saving of images to a hard drive and downloading software from the website. The ideal specifications are standard features in recent model PCs and readily available if users are upgrading their computers.

Access to the Internet via a broadband connection will enable access to images via the website from the QAP as well as educational material which will be provided. It is also of assistance in downloading updates to viewing software.

	Minimum	Ideal
Type of computer*	PC computer*	PC computer*
Type/size of processor	800 MHz	Intel Processor P4 1.8 GHz
Operating system	Windows 98	Windows 2000 or XP or Windows XP Pro
RAM**	256 MB	More than 512 MB
Hard Drive	20 GB	Greater than 120GB
Other Drives	DVD ROM	CD/DVD ROM, CD/DVD-RW
Graphics***	800 x 600	1280 x 1024 or better eg 1600 x 1200
Monitor***	Can view on CRT or LCD***, 15" or greater in size	17" or greater CRT or LCD***, 1600 x 1200 native resolution

* Aperio ImageScope Software is currently available only for Windows.
  Several MAC users have confirmed successful installation on a Mac using Virtual PC and Intel-based Mac computers.
  Linux users could try installing Windows on a virtual machine using VMware.
  We will update this note as information becomes available.
** The larger the better to handle large file sizes of images.
***Quality is paramount for the best images.

RELATED SITES

University of Leeds UK
Virtual pathology website
www.virtualpathology.leeds.ac.uk

Uppsala University Sweden
Human Proteome Project
Protein Atlas
www.proteinatlas.org

University of Tampere Finland
Web based virtual microscopy
www.webmicroscope.net

i-Path Diagnostics Ltd
Digital tissue archiving, virtual microscopy and pathology education.
www.i-path.co.uk

Digital Slide Box
Digital slide management
www.digitalslidebox.com/userHelp/