Specialist Advice — 17 minutes
The new age of pathology
Pathology involves the examination of bodily tissues under a microscope to diagnose diseases and study their evolution. The technique has remained largely the same for over a hundred years, but this situation is changing. Increasingly, slides are being digitized, providing many benefits to patients and the medical profession. Welcome to the era of digital pathology!
« Dr. Mailhot explains that, traditionally, a pathologist’s office is filled with slides. When there’s an emergency, the right slides need to be found, often from a tray assigned to the patient’s case, looked at under a microscope, then put back in the right tray, all of which can take a while. Scanning saves pathologists time and reduces the risk of error by automatically linking slides with their associated patient files. »
This also allows professionals to view macroscopic and microscopic images simultaneously, compare different sections between them or with previous samples, and have a more comprehensive view of a situation. It should also be added that slide analysis on a screen is more pleasant and less tiring on the eyes. The time saved through digitization could compensate for the increased workload of pathologists faced with an explosion in the number of cancer cases. Inevitably, the introduction of screening programs and the advent of new therapeutic approaches in oncology have increased the demand for pathologists more than ever. [1]
Slide image scanning also facilitates access to samples by colleagues from anywhere in the world at any time. It allows cases to be discussed with other pathologists and additional opinions to be obtained in a timely manner. “This allows you to immediately request a remote consultation with a colleague in another hospital, without having to mail them the slides,” says Dr. Mailhot.
In a country as vast as Canada, remote consultation, also called telepathology, is an important tool for meeting the needs of remote regions where staffing shortages are often more acute. It also helps reduce the isolation of specialists and improve the quality of diagnoses. [1]
The analysis of slides under a microscope presents certain risks, particularly those related to the handling of fragile material. With digital pathology, slides are handled only at the moment they’re scanned. The probability of loss or breakage during transport or contact with the samples during distribution is therefore reduced. Similarly, this reduces the risk of contamination.
Although archiving large quantities of digital slides can impose budgetary and technical constraints, these digital versions facilitate retention and future consultations by avoiding unnecessary handling and the physical storage of specimens.
