Use of digital video for documentation of microscopic features of tissue samples

Digital photography is commonly used to document microscopic features of tissue samples, but it relies on the capture of arbitrarily selected representative areas. Current technologic advances permit the review of an entire sample, some even replicating the use of a microscope.

To demonstrate the applicability of digital video to the documentation of histologic samples.

A Canon Elura MC40 digital camcorder was mounted on a microscope, glass slide-mounted tissue sections were filmed, and the unedited movies were transferred to a Apple Mac Pro computer. Movies were edited using the software iMovie HD, including placement of a time counter and a voice recording.

The finished movies can be viewed in computers, incorporated onto DVDs, or placed on a Web site after compression with Flash software. The final movies range, on average, between 2 and 8 minutes, depending on the size of the sample, and between 50 MB and 1.6 GB, depending on the intended means of distribution, with DVDs providing the best image quality.

Digital video is a practical methodology for documentation of entire tissue samples. We propose an affordable method that uses easily available hardware and software and does not require significant computer knowledge. Pathology education can be enhanced by the implementation of digital video technology.