A perspective on digital and computational pathology

The digitization of images has not only led to increasingly sophisticated methods of quantitating information from those images themselves, but also to the development of new physics-based techniques for extracting information from the original specimen and presenting this as visual data in both two and three-dimensional (3D) forms. This evolution of an image-based discipline has reached maturity in Radiology, but it is only just beginning in Pathology. An historical perspective is provided both on the current state of computational imaging in pathology and of the factors that are impeding further progress in the development and application of these approaches. Emphasis is placed on barriers to the dissemination of information in this area. The value of computational imaging in basic and translational research is clear. However, while there are many examples of “virtual diagnostics” in Radiology, there are only relatively few in Pathology. Nevertheless, we can do cellular level analysis of lesions accessible by endoscopic or catheterization procedures, and a number of steps have been taken toward real-time imaging as adjuncts to traditional biopsies. Progress in computational imaging will greatly expand the role of pathologists in clinical medicine as well as research.