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Top 20 reasons to engage in
digital pathology in your next
education project
Yves Sucaet, PhD
Diabetes Research Center

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Why this presentation?
• Building a convincing business case for digital
pathology in education has proven difficult.
Implementation requires a significant investment
(money, time, personnel), and we hear from many
practitioners in both the US and in Europe that
administrations are difficult to convince.
• This presentation wants to help you come up with
arguments when you find yourself in a conversation
about the pros and cons of digital pathology in your
teaching project

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Who am I?
Education
• 2000: Hogeschool Gent (BE)
– BS Computer Sciences
• 2001-2005: Troy State
University (US)
– Exchange program
– MS Biological Sciences
• 2005-2010: Iowa State
University
– PhD Bioinformatics &
Computational Biology
Professional
• 2000-2001: Becton Dickinson
• 2010-2013: HistoGeneX
• Data Management
• Bioinformatics
• Section head
• 2014-now: VUB
• Digital Pathology Manager

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Why digital pathology?
Our top 8 reasons

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It’s straightforward to explain
• The technique of converting glass-mounted microscopy
material into a digital representation / image.

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It’s happening all around the world

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There’s a healthy (competitive) market

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Quality of scanned slides is as good as glass

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You can’t ask your filing cabinet what’s in it

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Bring physical collections from around the
world together in one interface
• http://foulis.vub.ac.be

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Combine multiple imaging platforms into a
single interface
Pathomation

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The focus of this presentation
Invest once; but engage in several use
cases and scenarios
Education
Biobanking
Second
opinion
Primary
diagnosis
Research
QA

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Why digital pathology?
Our top 12 reasons

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Physical preparation takes a lot of time

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You can’t give your students sufficient time
behind the (physical) microscope

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A lot of teaching microscopes cost a lot of
money

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A lot of teaching microscopes need a lot of
maintenance

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Student handling of microscopes isn’t always
“ideal”

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Students slides can crack due to improper or
inexperienced handling

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Students don’t have access to a microscope
or slides at home
Our website is now available 24/7

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Build custom websites for pathology courses
and students
• Pathology education at http://pathology.vub.ac.be (GK, BMW)

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Use your investment for histology, too!
• Histology education at http://histology.vub.ac.be (GK, BMW)

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Digitize your paper courses through mobile
digital pathology and QR-codes

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Integrate microscopy material in your
(blended) learning environment

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Interactive (self) student testing becomes
possible

Innoviris portal introductie
• Thank you for taking the time to review these
materials
• Contact me at yves.sucaet@usa.net to continue
the conversation