Reimagining the microscope in the 21st century using the scalable adaptive graphics environment

Background: Whole-slide imaging (WSI), while technologically mature, remains in the early adopter phase of the technology adoption lifecycle. One reason for this current situation is that current methods of visualizing and using WSI closely follow long-existing workflows for glass slides. We set out to “reimagine” the digital microscope in the era of cloud computing by combining WSI with the rich collaborative environment of the Scalable Adaptive Graphics Environment (SAGE). SAGE is a cross-platform, open-source visualization and collaboration tool that enables users to access, display and share a variety of data-intensive information, in a variety of resolutions and formats, from multiple sources, on display walls of arbitrary size. Methods: A prototype of a WSI viewer app in the SAGE environment was created. While not full featured, it enabled the testing of our hypothesis that these technologies could be blended together to change the essential nature of how microscopic images are utilized for patient care, medical education, and research. Results: Using the newly created WSI viewer app, demonstration scenarios were created in the patient care and medical education scenarios. This included a live demonstration of a pathology consultation at the International Academy of Digital Pathology meeting in Boston in November 2014. Conclusions: SAGE is well suited to display, manipulate and collaborate using WSIs, along with other images and data, for a variety of purposes. It goes beyond how glass slides and current WSI viewers are being used today, changing the nature of digital pathology in the process. A fully developed WSI viewer app within SAGE has the potential to encourage the wider adoption of WSI throughout pathology.