FIGURE 2.

Virtual microscopy in clinical practice: telepathology (left panel) is used to evaluate frozen sections from cadaveric kidney transplant preimplantation. Frozen sections from a wedge biopsy is viewed with microscope connected to a camera for evaluation by a renal pathologist remotely located. Telepathology can also be used to evaluate adequacy of native and transplant kidney biopsies by placing the cores of fresh tissue on a glass slide. By using the microscope connected to a camera, the renal pathologist can remotely evaluate the percentage of cortex in the biopsy prior triaging and fixation. Whole slide images (right panel) are created from scanned glass slides, and stored in a web-accessible digital pathology repository to be shared with other renal pathologists for consultation, second opinion, or primary diagnosis (the later has still restricted use in the United States). An expert renal pathologist can access the repository remotely for visualization, assessment, and reporting of findings.