Digital Pathology During COVID-19: How Whole Slide Imaging Sustained Diagnostic Workflows
This Journal of Clinical Pathology report from University Medical Center Utrecht describes how digital pathology infrastructure enabled continued diagnostic operations during the 2020 COVID-19 crisis. With lockdown measures and social distancing requirements, whole slide imaging allowed pathologists, residents, and laboratory staff to work effectively from home while maintaining diagnostic quality. The experience underscored digital pathology as a strategic resilience asset, not merely a convenience tool, for pathology departments.
The original study
Digital pathology in the time of corona.
- Authors
- Stathonikos N, van Varsseveld NC, Vink A, van Dijk MR, Nguyen TQ, Leng WWJ, et al.
- Journal
- Journal of clinical pathology
- Type
- Journal Article, Review
- PMID
- 32699117
Original abstract
The 2020 COVID-19 crisis has had and will have many implications for healthcare, including pathology. Rising number of infections create staffing shortages and other hospital departments might require pathology employees to fill more urgent positions. Furthermore, lockdown measures and social distancing cause many people to work from home. During this crisis, it became clearer than ever what an asset digital diagnostics is to keep pathologists, residents, molecular biologists and pathology assistants engaged in the diagnostic process, allowing social distancing and a 'need to be there' on-the-premises policy, while working effectively from home. This paper provides an overview of our way of working during the 2020 COVID-19 crisis with emphasis on the virtues of digital pathology.