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Automation of gross photography using a remote-controlled digital camera system
Rae-Woong Park1, Joon-Hoe Eom, Ho-Yong Byun
1Department of Pathology, Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Sungnam, Republic of Korea.
Context:
Conventional gross photography requires a series of tedious and time-consuming steps, including taking, developing, labeling, sorting, filing, and tracking numerous photographs.
Objective:
To describe how to automate the gross photographic process by way of controlling a digital camera remotely.
Design:
After defining the requirements of automation regarding gross photography, a remote control board, foot switch, barcode system, and image retrieval system were devised.
Setting:
The surgical pathology laboratory of a university medical center with a commercially available megapixel digital camera.
Results:
The digital camera zoom and shutter were controlled remotely by a foot switch. A large portion of the gross photographic process, including specimen number labeling, image downloading, labeling, sorting, filing, and tracking, were automated. In addition, the elimination of several manual specimen-processing steps, along with not having to wait for the developing and mounting of conventional 35-mm film, reduced the entire time span required in conventional gross photography from 2 to 5 days, to a few minutes. It was also possible to review the gross images at the time of microscopic sign-out.
Conclusions:
The automation of gross photography using a remote-controlled digital camera changes the conventional gross workflow markedly. We found use of a remote-controlled gross photography system to be practical, convenient, and efficient.