Department of Clinical Laboratory and Medical Imaging Sciences, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey.
Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, School of Health Professions, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey.
J Am Soc Cytopathol. 2023 May-Jun;12(3):181-188. doi: 10.1016/j.jasc.2023.03.001. Epub 2023 Mar 6.
Whole slide imaging is a promising tool for cytology. In the present study, we assessed the performance of and user experience with virtual microscopy (VM) to determine its feasibility and usage in an educational setting.
From January 1 through August 31, 2022, 46 Papanicolaou slides, of which 22 (48%) were abnormal, 23 (50%) were negative, and 1 (2%) was unsatisfactory, were reviewed by the students using both VM and light microscopy (LM) platforms. In addition to assessing VM's overall performance, the SurePath imaged slides' accuracy was reviewed as a potential alternative to ThinPrep because of its cloud storage advantage. Finally, the students' weekly feedback logs were analyzed to gain insights for improving the digital screening experience.
The overall diagnostic concordance difference was significant between the 2 screening platforms (Z = 5.38; P < 0.001), favoring LM (86% correct diagnosis) over VM (70% correct diagnosis). The overall sensitivity of VM and LM was 54.0% and 89.6%, respectively. VM also had an overall higher specificity (91.8%) compared with LM (81.3%). LM performed better than whole slide imaging for the correct identification of an organism when one was present, with 77.6% sensitivity compared with 58.9% for the digital platform. The rate of agreement for the SurePath imaged slides with the reference diagnosis was 74.3% compared with 65.7% for the ThinPrep slides. Finally, 4 themes were discerned from reviewing the user logs, with issues about image quality and the lack of fine focus functionality most frequently mentioned, followed by themes associated with a higher learning curve and novelty associated with the digital screening.
Although the VM results were poorer than the LM results in our validation, its use in an educational setting is promising considering the continued technological improvements and the renewed focus on improving the digital user experience.
全玻片成像技术是细胞学领域极具前景的工具。在本研究中，我们评估了虚拟显微镜（VM）的性能和用户体验，以确定其在教育环境中的可行性和使用情况。
2022 年 1 月 1 日至 8 月 31 日，学生们使用 VM 和光学显微镜（LM）平台共阅片 46 例，其中 22 例（48%）为异常，23 例（50%）为阴性，1 例（2%）不满意。除评估 VM 的整体性能外，还评估了 SurePath 成像载玻片的准确性，因为其具有云存储优势，可作为 ThinPrep 的替代方法。最后，分析学生每周的反馈日志，以获取改善数字筛查体验的见解。
两种筛查平台的总体诊断一致性差异具有统计学意义（Z=5.38；P<0.001），LM（86%的正确诊断）优于 VM（70%的正确诊断）。VM 和 LM 的总体敏感性分别为 54.0%和 89.6%。VM 的总体特异性（91.8%）也高于 LM（81.3%）。当存在目标物时，LM 正确识别目标物的能力优于全玻片成像，其敏感性为 77.6%，而数字平台的敏感性为 58.9%。SurePath 成像载玻片与参考诊断的符合率为 74.3%，而 ThinPrep 载玻片的符合率为 65.7%。最后，通过查看用户日志得出了 4 个主题，其中提到最多的问题是图像质量和缺乏精细聚焦功能，其次是与更高的学习曲线和数字筛查的新颖性相关的主题。
尽管 VM 的结果逊于 LM，但考虑到技术的持续改进和对改善数字用户体验的重新关注，其在教育环境中的应用前景广阔。
