Slide Scanning
The ITPA offers the possibility of digitizing histological specimens. A virtual or digital section is created by scanning the entire specimen area of the slide to produce a high-resolution, high-quality image (whole slide image WSI). WSIs can be saved and viewed on a high-resolution computer screen using a WSI viewer or web browser-based software.
The use of WSI offers several advantages:
- Reviewing histologic slides does not require a microscope or mailing the sections. Therefore, digitized slides are useful for remote work or collaboration
- Images for publication can be extracted and annotated from the digital file at any magnification or from any location on the slide
- Scanned slides support web-based learning and AI analysis
- Quantitative morphometry or pathology assessment can be performed on the entire slide image instead of a preselected field of view (FOV) image
Equipment: Nanozoomer S360 from Hamamatsu with the following specifications:
Magnification: 20x and 40x (standard)
Resolution: 0.46 µm/pixel at 20x; 0.23 µm/pixel at 40x
Illumination: brightfield
Capacity: up to 360 slides per run
Digital file format: ndp
Z-stacking for cytology and thicker sections
Speed: 15x15 mm 30s
Viewer software: ndpViewer2 is a free software that can be downloaded and installed on any computer or used directly via browser.
Storage and access: The WSIs are stored in a NAS and accessed via a specially created server. It is also possible to store WSI directly on a hard disk.
Service: Requests for digitization can be made as stand-alone requests (submitting previously prepared slides for scanning) or as part of a histology or pathology order (submitting specimens for preparation and/or specimens for pathology evaluation).
Sections: Histologic specimens on glass slides containing animal or human tissue and stained with HE, special histochemical or chromogenic or immunohistochemical stains can be scanned. Fluorescent sections cannot currently be considered.