Pocket pathologist: A mobile application for rapid diagnostic surgical pathology consultation

Telepathology allows the digital transmission of images for rapid access to pathology experts. Recent technologic advances in smartphones have allowed them to be used to acquire and transmit digital images of the glass slide, representing cost savings and efficiency gains over traditional forms of telepathology. We report our experience with developing an iPhone application (App - Pocket Pathologist) to facilitate rapid diagnostic pathology teleconsultation utilizing a smartphone.

A secure, web-based portal (http://pathconsult.upmc.com/) was created to facilitate remote transmission of digital images for teleconsultation. The App augments functionality of the web-based portal and allows the user to quickly and easily upload digital images for teleconsultation. Image quality of smartphone cameras was evaluated by capturing images using different adapters that directly attach phones to a microscope ocular lens.

The App was launched in August 2013. The App facilitated easy submission of cases for teleconsultation by limiting the number of data entry fields for users and enabling uploading of images from their smartphone's gallery wirelessly. Smartphone cameras properly attached to a microscope create static digital images of similar quality to a commercial digital microscope camera.

Smartphones have great potential to support telepathology because they are portable, provide ubiquitous internet connectivity, contain excellent digital cameras, and can be easily attached to a microscope. The Pocket Pathologist App represents a significant reduction in the cost of creating digital images and submitting them for teleconsultation. The iPhone App provides an easy solution for global users to submit digital pathology images to pathology experts for consultation.