Presented at the 2000 APIII Conference Return to 2000 Abstract Index
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY: THE TRANSITION FROM PHOTOGRAPHY TO DIGITAL IMAGES
Mount
Sinai Hospital
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Toronto, Ontario
CANADA
Aaron Pollett, MD
Background: The Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto, Ontario), uses transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for diagnosis of soft tissue and poorly differentiated tumours, examining approximately 350 cases/year. To cut material costs, it was decided to move from photographic TEM to digital image TEM.
Design: In November, 1996, a Philips-CM100 TEM (Philips Electron Optics, Eindhoven, The Netherlands) was fitted with a Kodak Megaplus Digital Camera (Model 1.6i, Eastman Kodak Company, San Diego, CA) connected to a PC-based system. AnalySIS software (version 2.1, SIS Soft-Imaging Software GmbH, Golden, CO) was used for image management.
Results: Digital imaging reduced photographic material cost from $5000/year to $800/year. In addition, staff was no longer needed for photograph development, and electron microscopy staffing decreased from 2.0 full-time equivalents (FTEs) to 1.2 FTEs.
The quality of the digital image was roughly equivalent to those provided by photography, producing images suitable for publication. A slight decrease in quality was noted at extreme high magnification. This difference did not lead to any diagnostic difficulty. Diagnosis was made from onscreen images.
The move to a digital based system provided additional benefits. Turn-around-time was reduced from 5 days to 3 days. As cost was no longer related to the number of pictures, the number of pictures-per-case increased from 5.7 to 9.1. The software allowed on-screen measurement of cellular structures. Digital archiving improved case storage and retrieval. Image viewing could be done from a number of networked workstations. Digital images allowed image analysis/manipulation, and image transfer by email. The digital images facilitated the creation of an electron microscopy teaching set for residents and technologists. The digital format also supports the goal to allow remote database access through the Internet.
Conclusions: Despite the relatively small needs of our facility, the move to digital imaged-based diagnostic transmission electron microscopy produced a significant savings in material and personnel costs. In larger labs, with greater material and personnel costs, the savings from moving to a digital system could be even greater. The move to a digital format produced additional benefits for education, image transfer and image manipulation which were not possible with a photograph-based system.