Digital imaging of microscope slides has been a technological advancement that has gained prevalence in Laboratory Medicine, particularly in the area of Anatomical Pathology/Histology, as well as in areas like academic research and drug development.
High-resolution digital images of tissues are taken from microscope slides and can be shared among multiple parties virtually. Some of the notable benefits include faster diagnosis by pathologists due to faster access to microscopic images, ability to conduct real-time peer review and discussion, as well as the creation of a large database of pathology cases for education/competency assessment purposes.
The white paper as published by the Digital Pathology Association goes into greater details of the technological advances that have been made thus far - http://www.jpathinformatics.org/article.asp?issn=2153-3539;year=2019;volume=10;issue=1;spage=9;epage=9;aulast=Aeffner
In the area of Hematology, while there have been significant advances in automated digital imaging systems, for interpretation of peripheral blood smears, manual interpretation remains relevant and it is still a key component in a laboratory technologist/technician’s training curriculum. Manual interpretation is a subjective process thus a significant portion of training time is allocated to this area.
In 2019, Oneworld Accuracy has created a Peripheral Blood Morphology and Differential EQA program (HEMD434) which allows participants to perform manual White Blood Cell (WBC) Differential counts and to interpret Red Blood Cell (RBC) and platelet morphology on digitalized peripheral blood smears. During a test event, participants would access the digital slide on Test Event Dashboard and perform interpretation using an online slide viewer. This viewer allows user-controlled movement to multiple microscopic fields and the ability to view an image in various magnifications, which mimics functions of an actual microscope.
We have received favorable feedback from the first two test events of the year in that image quality is optimal for analysis and the slide viewer is easy to use.
We are pleased to announce HEMD434 will be continuing in 2020 and we would like to remind participants that the Report-Only subscription option is available for this program as well. This means more than one technologist/technician from the same facility can perform analysis, submit results, and receive an assessment. This would complement any competency assessment or educational activities being used in your facility.
Please do not hesitate to contact Oneworld Accuracy Support for additional information.
Comments