Maximal Diagnostic Accuracy in Virtual Telepathology System according to Input Device and Video Signal

Abstract

Varieties of telepathology system had been developed and in use, but their functional capability and diagnostic accuracy are considered to be inferior to those of conventional optical microscope. This study is intended to find out: 1) the diagnostic accuracy and reproducibility rate according to the input devices and the video signals; 2) any potential technical problems of the telepathology system; 3) any possible physical and psychological impacts. We devised a virtual telepathology system using our existing microscope equipped with CCD camera unit that has no restriction of network speed. Total fifty-five surgical pathology cases from 11 different organs were selected. Three pathologists were involved in making diagnoses. The resulting diagnostic accuracies were: 1 CCD camera with composite video signal was 86.2%; 3 CCD camera with composite video signal was 93.1%; 3 CCD camera with component video signal was 95.0%. The 3 CCD camera with component video signal resulted in 95.0% diagnostic accuracy and was superior to 1 CCD camera with composite video signal. Some technical problems noted during this study were: the visual field of the virtual telepathology system was smaller by 43% than that of microscope; the difference of cell sizes between microscope and monitor; low resolution of image. Some physical and psychological symptoms were noted.