Ex Vivo Digital Microscopy Techniques in Surgical Pathology

Area of Science:

• Pathology
• Optical Imaging
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Ex vivo digital microscopy utilizes visible and adjacent light spectra for tissue imaging.
• Techniques allow digital image acquisition with minimal or no tissue preparation for fresh and fixed tissues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of various ex vivo digital microscopy techniques.
• To highlight their potential applications in surgical pathology.

Main Methods:

• Review of techniques including confocal microscopy (CM), optical coherence tomography (OCT), stimulated Raman Spectroscopy (SRS), light sheet microscopy (LSM), microscopy with ultraviolet excitation (MUSE), structured illumination microscopy (SIM), and nonlinear microscopy (NLM).
• Discussion of labeling requirements (fluorescent dyes) and generation of hematoxylin and eosin-like images.

Main Results:

• Most techniques require fluorescent dyes, except for OCT and SRS.
• Several techniques (CM, SRS, LSM, MUSE, SIM, NLM) can produce H&E-like images.
• Studies support the potential of these techniques in surgical pathology.

Conclusions:

• Ex vivo digital microscopy techniques have promising applications in surgical pathology.
• Potential uses include real-time tissue evaluation bedside and intraoperatively.
• These methods may be incorporated into standard surgical pathology practice.