Towards Realization of Remote Controlled Telecytopathology - A Validation Study from a Large Academic Medical Center from Southeast USA

With increase in the number and types of biopsies requiring Rapid On-site Evaluation (ROSE) for adequacy, telecytopathology is one of the solutions. Using a microscope camera with MS Surface Pro, a live telecytopathology audio video feed for the adequacy of 55 study set validation cases was sent over Zoom from the satellite hospital over ten miles away with cytopathologists at the main hospital. The study set cases included DiffQuik stained smears and core imprints. The overall percent of positive agreement (accuracy) for adequacy during ROSE via telecytopathology was 96%. Core imprint percentage for positive agreement was slightly higher (96.2%), compared to FNA smears (95.8%). Use of telecytopathology is the best solution for optimizing cytopathologist’s time for evaluating biopsy adequacy from distant sites.