Presented at the 1997 APIII Conference Return to 1997 Abstract Index
DigestDigital
Pathway: Proposal for the Use of Standardized Multimedia
Formats In Pathology Educational Software.
Wheeler
DT, Schmidt RA
University of Washington Medical Center
Department of Pathology
Seattle, Washington
The rapid advancements in the use of computers for pathology education has been well received. Teaching institutions throughout the world, in association with large book publishing firms, have created libraries of pathology video, image, and text information in various formats to be used by microcomputers and network systems, including the World Wide Web. However, with each institution creating its own unique format of information delivery, there exists no simple way to sample information on any one topic from multiple institutions. We report the design of a standardized format of video, text, and image data in pathology (DP format) which can be accessed by a single software shell (the Digital Pathway software interface), running locally within a micro- computer environment. This format allows multiple institutions the ability to present their information in such a way that a single software program can cross search their information with others using the same format, without the speed limitations or browser limitations currently present on the World Wide Web. In addition, the open architecture allows for future expansion and/or modification of the database by any one author, keeping the information current. These modifications can be made locally on a microcomputer or via the Internet, directly from an institution’s server. These features allow pathology multimedia information to be accessed in much the same way literature is accessed via the Medline™ database. The creation of even a few standardized formats among teaching institutions would exponentially increase the access to pathology data, as compared to that of the thousands of isolated multimedia projects already in circulation.