Telepathology overview: from concept to implementation.

Telepathology is the practice of pathology at a distance by using video imaging and telecommunications Significant progress has been made in telepathology To date 12 classes of telepathology systems have been engineered Rapid and ultrarapid virtual slide processors may further expand the range of telepathology applications Next generation digital imaging light microscopes such as miniaturized microscope arrays MMA may make virtual slide processing a routine laboratory tool Diagnostic accuracy of telepathology is comparable with that of conventional light microscopy for most diagnoses Current telepathology applications include intraoperative frozen sections services routine surgical pathology services second opinions and subspecialty consultations Three telepathology practice models are discussed the subspecialty practice SSP model the case triage practice CTP model and the virtual group practice VGP model Human factors influence performance with telepathology Experience with 500 telepathology cases from multiple organs significantly reduces the video viewing time per case P Under 01 Many technology innovations can be represented as S curves After long incubation periods technology use and or efficiency may accelerate Telepathology appears to be following an S curve for a technical innovation