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Smartphone adapters for digital photomicrography.

Somak Roy¹, Liron Pantanowitz¹, Milon Amin¹

¹Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Journal of Pathology Informatics

|September 6, 2014

Summary

Smartphone microscope adapters offer an affordable and user-friendly method for capturing digital pathology photomicrographs. The Snapzoom adapter proved most versatile, even with protective cases, facilitating image sharing for consultation and education.

Keywords:

Digital pathology digital photomicrography smartphone microscope adapters

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Area of Science:

Pathology
Microscopy
Digital Imaging

Background:

Photomicrographs are crucial for sharing glass slide information in anatomic pathology for consultation, education, documentation, and publication.
Traditional methods using dedicated microscope cameras are expensive, require computers, and often use proprietary software.
Smartphone adapters offer a novel, accessible approach to capturing digital microscopic images.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the utility of commercially available smartphone adapters for capturing digital microscopic images.
To assess the effectiveness of different adapters in acquiring static microscopic digital images.

Main Methods:

A market survey was conducted to identify smartphone adapters for light microscope ocular lenses.
Three adapters (Magnifi, Skylight, Snapzoom) were tested for their design and image acquisition capabilities.

Main Results:

All tested adapters enabled digital microscopic image acquisition using smartphones.
Adapter performance varied with phone type; Magnifi adapters were incompatible with iPhones in protective cases.
The Snapzoom adapter demonstrated ease of use with various smartphones, including those with protective cases.

Conclusions:

Smartphone adapters are cost-effective and simple tools for digital microscopic imaging.
User adjustment is necessary to optimize focus and image quality.
These adapters provide an economical solution for acquiring and sharing digital pathology photomicrographs.