Hamamatsu News 1-2017 - page 5

Higher resolution
NanoZoomer
Slide dist
and man
software
Biopsy/Operation
(Collection and excision
of lesions)
Frozen samples
prepared from tissue
NDP slide
distribution
server
Operator
Cryostat
Lung specialist
Request for consultation
Operation example of virtual slide #3 : Student education
Pancreas specialist
Mammary gland specialist
Stomach specialist
Liver specialist
Operation example of whole slide imaging #2: Organ consultation
Views the entire image of a sample and magnifies images to any size
of detail just the same as by microscope observation.
there simply are not enough pathologists available across the country,
so that regional hospitals and small hospitals with few beds available
have to take measures such as asking outside pathologists to standby
for part-time duties on the day of surgery or rapidly sending the cell or
tissue sample to a facility where pathologists are working. The surgery
can then continue after the pathologist contacts the hospital with a
diagnosis.
Tsuchiya:
In view of these circumstances, the first NanoZoomer model
was developed to convert the sample into digital information so that
medical specialists for each organ can make observations and diagnoses
from remote locations. Solving these problems of pathologist shortage
and regional difference was assumed to require developing a digital
slide scanner capable of both high-speed and accurate observation that
would also have to operate over a network.
So you made the microscope into what could be called a digital
device?
Toyoda:
A whole slide scanner such as the NanoZoomer can be
considered a convenient tool to make microscope observations.
Conventional microscopes or first-generation microscopes are used for
on-site placement and observation of the sample. Second-generation
microscopes were next introduced to the market, allowing remote
operation over a network where for instance a doctor at a remote
location received a message saying, “The sample is now mounted
in the microscope” and the doctor could then make observations via
a network. This method, however, required a human assistant to
change the slide and contact the doctor.
Hashimoto:
Third-generation microscopes like the NanoZoomer that
next appeared on the market were capable of automatically changing
slides without human assistance, and acquiring images the doctor could
see, although there was a time-lag. So convenience was drastically
improved.
Ogura:
But, the NanoZoomer was not built to compete with the
microscope. If the sample must be observed on-site and in real-time,
then the microscope is a much better choice. However, the whole
slide scanner proves itself a powerful tool when used in combination
with a system for converting a sample to a digital format, copying it,
searching for it on a database, and observing it over a network.
In the future, a network between pathologic diagnostic specialists on a case or organ basis
and a network within a specific area will be constructed. And it is thought that it becomes
a system which can receive specialized pathology diagnosis from familiar hospitals.
News 2017 Vol. 1 5
R&D Interview
1,2,3,4 6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,...36
Powered by FlippingBook