Whole Slide Imaging System for Tissue Services Core

University Of Tennessee Health Sci Ctr, Memphis TN

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This shared instrumentation application requests funding to purchase a Whole Slide Imaging System for the purpose of scanning glass tissue slides and converting them to high resolution digital images. Currently an automatic glass histology slide digitizer is not available to the Memphis scientific community, and the lack of such a facility greatly reduces the potential for image sharing between investigators, therefore impairing the ability to effectively perform research. At the present time, a group of nine NIH-funded research investigators with RO1 grants and one investigator funded through the American Cancer Society require the acquisition of the Whole Slide Imaging System (WSI System) to support their research and effectively share their histology tissue images with the greater scientific community. Conventional glass histology slides hold a considerable amount of interpretable visual information, but unfortunately certain staining techniques, such as immuno- fluorescence, rapidly become uninterpretable. Over a period of time the staining quality of all tissues is reduced due to the natural bleaching of stains. Sharing histology slides with out of area collaborators is difficult due to the fragility of glass and the time required for transportation. Precise measurement of an area of interest in a given slide is another feature of the WSI System that several researchers require. A digitized slide cannot be damaged, can be accessed rapidly via the internet, and will never change in appearance as long as the underlying data integrity is maintained. The sharing of digitized histology tissue images with the entire scientific community is made possible through cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG") workspaces. The WSI System includes MIRAX SCAN", a fully automatic scanner that digitizes 300 histology slides at the rate of approximately 5 minutes per slide. The system will be used principally by the 10 aforementioned co-investigators and by additional investigators at the UTHSC and neighboring institutions on a fee-for-use basis. Use of the instrument is estimated to be greater than 60 hours per week. The automatic slide scanning function of the MIRAX SCAN" allows the digitization of images without any supervision, thereby allowing use of the machine beyond regular working hours. A database of research-related images will be created enabling the sharing of resources in a manner that is similar to other NCRR funded programs, such as the Virtual Slidebox of Comparative Cancer Pathology. A web-accessible research-related resource will be created for use by the biomedical community. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed Whole Slide Imaging System offers the ability to create a digital replica of the entire content of a glass microscope slide and to display and analyze this content on the computer, closely emulating traditional viewing of a slide with a conventional microscope. Virtual microscope slides are advantageous over digital photomicrographs because digitized slides can be moved in two dimensions and through multiple magnifications. Additionally, the following features further augment the utility of the system for research purposes: the annotation of digitized slides by overlay with arrows, lines, and text, the comparison of immunohistochemistry and fluorescence microscopy side- by-side with H&E, the evaluation of tissue microarrays, and the performance of computer assisted image analysis.