Presented at the 1997 APIII Conference                        Return to 1997 Abstract Index

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ELECTRONIC MANAGEMENT OF ELECTRON MICROSCOPE IMAGES
Aijazi, Mahmood; Liu, Yao; McDonald, Linda; Tomashefski, Joseph F., Jr.
MetroHealth Medical Center
Department of Pathology
Cleveland, Ohio

Digital video image capturing directly from electron microscopes is an expensive option that requires a special adapter and camera to be attached. More importantly, many older electron microscopes do not support this type of equipment. Conventional photographic methods, widely used in electron microscopy laboratories, are expensive and often time consuming therefore causing unnecessary delays in the diagnosis. In the current cost-conscious environment, traditional methods may not be optimal. As an alternative approach, we have setup a hybrid system using both conventional photographic methods as well as digital scanner and image management software to save cost and time of photographic enlargements of EM images. A Hewlett-Packard ScanJet© 5P TWAIN compatible scanner was connected to a Compaq© Pentium 120 MHz computer. Images of photographic negatives exposed in the Zeiss EM I0C©, TEM are scanned directly into an image management program (ThumbsPlus© by Cerious Software Inc). These images can be reviewed on the screen or printed on a Hewlett-Packard© 5P Postscript© laser printer for permanent record. Although the resolution of images is not as good as photographic enlargements, the results are often acceptable by our pathologists for diagnostic purposes. This method saves a considerable amount of cost and decreases the turnaround time for EM processing.