A Novel Web Application for Rapidly Searching the Diagnostic Case Archive

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Pathology Informatics

Background:

• Academic pathologists require efficient access to institutional diagnostic case archives for research and education.
• Commercial laboratory information systems often have suboptimal search functionalities, causing delays.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel web-based search platform, Pathtools, for rapid access to a large diagnostic case archive.
• To improve search efficiency and support research and educational activities for pathology staff and trainees.

Main Methods:

• Developed Pathtools, a web-based platform using open-source components and an SQL database.
• Populated the database with 4.2 million anatomic pathology cases dating back to 1980.
• Implemented two modes: 'Preview Mode' for quick searches and 'Research Mode' for data set generation.

Main Results:

• Pathtools executed 33,817 searches in Preview Mode with an average search-to-display time of 0.72 seconds.
• Research Mode facilitated data generation for numerous abstracts and manuscripts.
• Trainees accounted for 75% of search activity, with 83% using Pathtools extensively during preview sessions.

Conclusions:

• Web-based search tools can provide rapid and secure direct access to case archives for end-users.
• Pathtools has significantly augmented trainee education and research activities within the department.
• The platform demonstrates the value of optimized search capabilities in pathology informatics.