Telepathology: System Design And Specifications

Abstract

Telepathology is a new field of medicine encompassing the practice of pathology at a distance by visualizing an image of tissue and/or cells on a video monitor rather than viewing the specimen directly through a microscope. Essential components of a telepathology system include: 1- a fully motorized microscope equipped with a high resolution video camera at a remote site where the patient is located: 2- a pathologist's workstation that incorporates the controls for manipulating the remote microscope and a high-resolution video monitor at a Physician's Imaging Center (tm) and 3- a communications linkage between the remote site and the Physician's Imaging Center. Such a system has been constructed and its usefulness has been demonstrated using a SBS 3 satellite for video transmission and remote control of the robotic microscope.