Pocket pathologist: A mobile application for rapid diagnostic surgical pathology consultation

Abstract

Introduction:Telepathology allows the digital transmission of images for rapid access to pathology experts. Recent technologic advances in smartphones have allowed them to be used to acquire and transmit digital images of the glass slide, representing cost savings and efficiency gains over traditional forms of telepathology. We report our experience with developing an iPhone application (App - Pocket Pathologist) to facilitate rapid diagnostic pathology teleconsultation utilizing a smartphone.Materials and Methods:A secure, web-based portal (http://pathconsult.upmc.com/) was created to facilitate remote transmission of digital images for teleconsultation. The App augments functionality of the web-based portal and allows the user to quickly and easily upload digital images for teleconsultation. Image quality of smartphone cameras was evaluated by capturing images using different adapters that directly attach phones to a microscope ocular lens.Results:The App was launched in August 2013. The App facilitated easy submission of cases for teleconsultation by limiting the number of data entry fields for users and enabling uploading of images from their smartphone's gallery wirelessly. Smartphone cameras properly attached to a microscope create static digital images of similar quality to a commercial digital microscope camera.Conclusion:Smartphones have great potential to support telepathology because they are portable, provide ubiquitous internet connectivity, contain excellent digital cameras, and can be easily attached to a microscope. The Pocket Pathologist App represents a significant reduction in the cost of creating digital images and submitting them for teleconsultation. The iPhone App provides an easy solution for global users to submit digital pathology images to pathology experts for consultation.

Dermatopathology and Social Media

“…Static image telepathology has been described as a low-cost solution for providing second opinions from experts across the world. 33 As Internet access becomes more readily available, social media sites could be repurposed as a portal through which low-cost microscopic imaging systems, such as via smartphone microscopy (either free hand or using an adapter) technique, [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] more sophisticated low-resource whole slide imaging systems, 42 and low-cost telepathology applications, 43 could create another avenue for consultation around the world.…”

Laboratory Information Systems

“…Use of LISs on other client devices, such as tablets and smartphones, is emerging as well. 3,4 LISs require the use of networking technologies for connections among the LIS infrastructure components. Networks consist of physical media and related engineering software that together enable electronic data exchange.…”

The Morrison technique: a free‐hand method for capturing photomicrographs using a smartphone

“…Although focusing primarily on the use of adapters, a comparison of system features in Table 1 from their article included the hands-free technique that we first described. 5 Also in 2014, Hartman et al 6 from the same group at the UPMC reported their revolutionary application (app) available on Apple's iOS system that enabled users to capture images on their smartphone and upload them directly through the app to the UPMC's website for a consultation through the Department of Pathology. 6 The combination of online consultation with direct integration of an iOS app set a new precedent for using microscopic images captured with a smartphone camera for second opinion consultations.…”