Opportunities and Drawbacks of Digitalized Morphologic Analysis of Body Fluids

Body fluid analysis has become a critical component of diagnostic and clinical decision-making for a wide spectrum of human pathologies. An automated microscope, a high-quality digital camera, and a software designed to identify and automatically preclassify cells and other features in stained smears comprise the most recent generation of digital morphologic analyzers. The time necessary for expert operator reclassification is another aspect that must be considered at this stage of development, because identifying and sorting distinct elements in body fluids still necessitates the involvement of an expert morphologist.