Search

* Context.--Wide adoption of digital pathology requires efficient visualization and navigation in Web-based digital slide viewers, which is poorly defined. Objective.--To define and quantify relevant performance metrics for efficient visualization of cases and slides in digital slide viewers. Design.--With a universal slide viewer used in clinical routine diagnostics, we evaluated the impact of slide caching, compression type, tile, and block size of whole slide images generated from Philips, Leica, and 3DHistech scanners on streaming performance on case, slide, and field of view levels. Results.--Two hundred thirty-nine pathologists routinely reviewed 60 080 whole slide images over 3 months. The median time to open a case's slides from the laboratory information system was less than 4 seconds, the time to change to a slide within the case was less than 1 second, and the time to render the adjacent field of view when navigating the slide was less than one-quarter of a second. A whole slide image's block size and a viewer tile size of 1024 pixels showed best performance to display a field of view and was preferrable over smaller tiles due to fewer mosaic effects. For Philips, fastest median slide streaming pace was 238 ms per field of view and for 3DHistech, 125 ms. For Leica, the fastest pace of 108 ms per field of view was established with block serving without decompression. Conclusions.--This is the first study to systematically assess user-centric slide visualization performance metrics for digital viewers, including time to open a case, time to change a slide, and time to change a field of view. These metrics help to improve the viewer's configuration, leading to an efficient visualization baseline that is widely accepted among pathologists using routine digital pathology. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2021-0197-OA, More and more pathology laboratories are considering digital workflows for routine clinical practice including scanning, reviewing, and storing of digital pathology slides. Digital pathology (DP) gained popularity in recent years [...]

Context.--Digital pathology (DP) implementations vary in scale, based on aims of intended operation. Few laboratories have completed a full-scale DP implementation, which may be due to high overhead costs that disrupt the traditional pathology workflow. Neither standardized criteria nor benchmark data have yet been published showing practical return on investment after implementing a DP platform. Objective.--To provide benchmark data and practical metrics to support operational efficiency and cost savings in a large academic center. Design.--Metrics reviewed include archived pathology asset retrieval; ancillary test request for recurrent/meta-static disease; cost analysis and turnaround time (TAT); and DP experience survey. Results.--Glass slide requests from the department slide archive and an off-site surgery center showed a 93% and 97% decrease, respectively. Ancillary immunohistochemical orders, compared in 2014 (52%)--before whole slide images (WSIs) were available in the laboratory information system--and 2017 (21%) showed $114 000/y in anticipated savings. Comprehensive comparative cost analysis showed a 5-year $1.3 million savings. Surgical resection cases with prior WSIs showed a 1-day decrease in TAT. A DP experience survey showed 80% of respondents agreed WSIs improved their clinical sign-out experience. Conclusions.--Implementing a DP operation showed a noteworthy increase in efficiency and operational utility. Digital pathology deployments and operations may be gauged by the following metrics: number of glass slide requests as WSIs become available, decrease in confirmatory testing for patients with metastatic/recurrent disease, long-term decrease in off-site pathology asset costs, and faster TAT. Other departments may use our benchmark data and metrics to enhance patient care and demonstrate return on investment to justify adoption of DP. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2018-0514-OA, Applications for digital pathology (DP) have seen increased growth; however, few departments have successfully implemented a full-scale operation of a DP platform. Digital pathology has tremendous potential to disrupt the [...]