title: Performance evaluation of a dynamic telepathology system (Panoptiq™) in the morphologic assessment of peripheral blood film abnormalities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The study evaluated the performance of a dynamic imaging telepathology system (Panoptiq(™) ) as a diagnostic aid to the identification of peripheral blood film (PBF) abnormalities.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study assumed a laboratory personnel working in a clinical laboratory were operating the telepathology system to seek diagnostic opinion from an external consulting hematopathologist. The study examined 100 blood films, encompassing 23 different hematological diseases, reactive or normal cases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study revealed that with real-time image transmission in live scanning mode of operation, the telepathology system was able to aid reviewers in achieving excellent accuracy, that is correct interpretation of morphologic abnormalities obtained in 83/84 of the hematologic diseases and 12/12 of the reactive/normal conditions (Sensitivity: 0.99; Specificity: 1.00). In contrast, when only saved static images in digital capture mode of operation were reviewed remotely, interpretative omissions occurred in 8/84 of the hematologic diseases and 0/12 of the reactive/normal conditions (Sensitivity: 0.91; Specificity: 1.00). It is hypothesized that real-time operator-reviewer communication during live scanning played an important role in the identification of key morphologic abnormalities for review.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed the Panoptiq system can be adopted reliably as a dynamic telepathology tool in aiding community laboratories in the triage of PBF cases for external diagnostic consultation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Goswami
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hudoba De Badyn
mesh_terms: D001773:Blood Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D018715:Microscopy, Video; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019113:Telepathology / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Telepathology; blood film morphology; haematology laboratory practice; performance evaluation