CAP TODAY April, 2006

In a few months the UCSF laboratory plans to acquire a BioImagene system that will provide images to be used for reporting, educational, and Web site purposes in an automated fashion. BioImagene, Cupertino, Calif., uses a high-resolution scanner to scan an entire slide. "So rather than look at still images, you can look at the image just as you would look at a slide. You can start at a low magnification, then move to a higher magnification or prowl around using the guide tools on the computer to move the image."

For teaching, digital images are making pathologists' lives much simpler, says Tim McCalmont, MD, professor of clinical pathology and dermatology and medical director of the UCSF Dermatopathology Service in San Francisco.

"All the imaging technologies we've used up to now require a lot of the pathologist's time, but this is an advancement that lets the machine do the work. You can acquire images without having to push the shutter."

Dr. McCalmont hopes to decide after a pilot program with the BioImagene system whether this type of digital imaging will be suitable for diagnosis. "It's possible we'll decide that diagnosing images makes it harder, and then we won't use the technique for routine diagnostic work. But if I felt I could give better patient care more quickly and effectively using a computer with digitized images, I'd give up my microscope in a heartbeat."

The UCSF laboratory may also offer Web-based imaging. Rather than doctors getting a pathology report with an image on it, their staff could log onto the laboratory Web site and possibly link to the full digital slides. "For a lot of doctors with no training in pathology, that would just be fluff, but some of the dermatologists we serve have a great interest in details of the cases," he says.