Diagnostic electron microscopy: future development

When the electron microscope was initially developed, pathologists thought that it would become the ultimate diagnostic tool for tumor diagnosis because the structure of subcellular organelles could be visualized. However, the role of diagnostic electron microscopy in tumor diagnosis diminished rapidly when it was noted that there were a finite number of diagnostic subcellular organelles and that immunohistochemistry could yield the answer to questions which related to tumor diagnosis more rapidly and cheaply. If diagnostic EM is to remain a viable entity, its future role in tumor diagnosis lies in exploiting the relevance of the correlation between structure and function of subcellular organelles. This correlation between structure and function of subcellular organelles is best accomplished in an environment in which the recent technologic advances in electronics are incorporated into the electron microscopy laboratory.