Digital imaging in pathology: the case for standardization

The process of digital imaging in microscopy is a series of operations, each contributing to the quality of the final image that is displayed on the computer monitor. The operations include sample preparation and staining by histology, optical image formation by the microscope, digital image sampling by the camera sensor, postprocessing and compression, transmission across the network and display on the monitor. There is an extensive literature about digital imaging and each step of the process is fairly well understood. However, the complete process is very hard to standardize or even to understand fully. The important concepts for pathology imaging standards are: (1) systems should be able to share image files, (2) the standards should allow the transmission of information on baseline colours and recommended display parameters, (3) the images should be useful to the pathologist, not necessarily better or worse than direct examination of a slide under the microscope, (4) a mechanism to evaluate image quality objectively should be present, (5) a mechanism to adjust and correct the minor errors of tissue processing should be developed, (6) a public organization should support pathologists in the development of standards.