Whole Slide Imaging: A Complete Overview

Whole Slide Imaging

Whole slide imaging, commonly known as virtual microscopy, revolutionizes the way pathology specimens are analyzed by digitizing entire tissue slides for comprehensive examination. This technology involves scanning various whole slides digitally in high resolution, stitching together images derived from each field of view across the complete microscopy slide using specialized software. The result is a single digital image file that can be stored safely for archiving and documentation, benefiting the consulting and teaching industries. This cutting-edge technology allows pathologists to view high-resolution images of entire tissue sections on a computer screen, enabling remote access, collaborative consultation, and precise diagnostic interpretation. With whole slide imaging, healthcare professionals can streamline workflow, enhance efficiency, and improve accuracy in pathology diagnosis and research. This innovative approach holds tremendous potential to advance patient care, accelerate research discoveries, and transform the field of pathology into the digital age.

How does the Processing Work?

Employing state-of-the-art high-speed capabilities, the whole slide scanner meticulously captures individual images of each microscopic field of view spanning the entirety of the slide. This process ensures comprehensive coverage of the specimen, capturing every detail with remarkable precision. Subsequently, utilizing advanced stitching algorithms, these discrete images are seamlessly integrated, aligning perfectly to create a cohesive, high-resolution digital representation of the entire slide. This meticulous stitching process ensures that no detail is overlooked, enabling pathologists to examine the tissue specimen with unparalleled clarity and accuracy. By generating a single, unified digital image, whole slide imaging technology facilitates enhanced analysis, interpretation, and sharing of pathology slides, revolutionizing the practice of diagnostic pathology and research.

Whole Slide Imaging (WSI) plays a pivotal role in advancing the field of Digital Pathology through several key contributions. As technology has progressed, enhancements in barcoding, file tracing, and storage capabilities have propelled the evolution of slide imaging technology. This progress has catalyzed the emergence of digital pathology, with WSI enabling pathologists to seamlessly share files with colleagues worldwide, facilitating collaboration on complex cases and consultations with experts on specific tissue types or diseases. 

Moreover, traditional physical tissue slides are susceptible to color degradation over time, which can compromise diagnostic accuracy. WSI addresses this challenge by digitizing tissue sections, preserving their quality indefinitely and enabling analysis even decades later. This longevity is particularly advantageous in oncology, where the ability to revisit slides from previous cases can yield valuable insights through comparative analyses. By leveraging WSI technology, pathologists can enhance diagnostic precision and treatment efficacy, ultimately improving patient outcomes in the fight against cancer and other diseases.

What are the primary advantages of Whole Slide Imaging?

Besides primarily benefiting digital pathology, whole slide imaging opens doors for digital whole slide image analysis employing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. AI algorithms support pathologists in reducing their hands-on time and help recognize tissue patterns and particular cell types. Complex image analysis becomes easy as AI accurately quantifies the abundance of specific cell kinds, helping pathologists with accurate analysis and offering optimal treatment.

 

How do the solutions from OptraSCAN for Whole Slide Imaging distinguish themselves from competitors?

Using the OS-Ultra whole slide imaging system, a microscope-based scanning device delivers the total flexibility of a research microscope and offers standard (brightfield and fluorescence) microscopy applications. The slide scanner is compatible with different sample formats, making it highly versatile, with varying features and parameter settings for optimal scanning.

Saved in the open file format called BigTIFF, the Whole Slide Imaging offered by OS-Ultra shows compatibility with many other slide viewers and whole slide image analysis software packages comprising AI image analysis tools.

Famous for its rapid whole-slide scanning capability in pathology, the OS-Ultra can capture tissue or cell samples measuring 15×15 mm at a magnification equivalent to 40x in under 60 seconds. The extraordinary whole slide image scanner comes with embedded analytical resolutions such as IMAGEPath®, the Image Management System opted for viewing, storing, and archiving, and TELEPath®, Telepathology software for real-time and remote consultations. At OptraSCAN we are committed to offering intelligent and user-friendly products for improving diagnostic accuracy, workflow, and collaboration, which backs us in moving ahead to achieve our goals skillfully. For more information on whole slide imaging, get in touch with us today!