Using Virtual Microscopy – Advancing Anatomical Education Worldwide
Michael Hortsch · The FASEB Journal · 2017
Since optical instruments were first used in the early 17 th century to visualize biological material at the microscopic scale, the morphological study of cells and tissues has largely been driven by technological advances, such as the development of high quality light microscopes, new procedures for preparing biological specimens for visual analysis, and novel microscope equipment and approaches (Hortsch, FASEB J. 27: 411–3, 2013). Over the last 25 years, virtual microscopy has gradually replaced light microscopes and glass slides for the teaching of cell, tissue, and organ structure (histology or microanatomy). Teachers and learners use high‐resolution, digitized histological images that are accessed by computers from a central server to dynamically view and explore normal and pathological cells and tissues. In 2005, the University of Michigan Medical School introduced virtual microscopy as the main histology teaching modality. Hundreds of existing glass histology slides were digitized to create a large library of virtual histology files that now forms the basis of the Michigan Histology website ( http://histology.sites.uofmhosting.net ). Each month, this freely accessible website, containing virtual light microcopy and EM images of all major human tissues and organs, is visited 30,000 to 80,000 times from over 160 different countries. This and other similar websites that offer virtual histology images specifically benefit students and teachers at new educational institutions, especially those located in developing countries, which frequently lack the funds to purchase expensive microscope equipment for all students. In addition, high quality histology glass slides are often difficult to obtain or prohibitively expensive. As limitations, access to a single virtual microcopy website relies on a fast, stable Internet connection and its content may not align with different curricular and course structures. Therefore, we shared the Michigan virtual microscopy file collection, which is over 200 Gb in size, with about 30 national and international institutions of higher learning. These schools have adopted the Michigan image material to their own style of teaching and educational needs, sometimes using them to complement their own virtual slide collections. Several examples of how virtual microscopy is integrated into the teaching of histology at educational institutions located on five different continents will be discussed in the presentation. These samples indicate that an Internet‐based large repository of virtual microscopy files will allow histology teachers worldwide, especially those who might not have the equipment to digitize their own histology glass slides, to select appropriate image material and to use it in customized ways that are best suited to their individual didactic requirements.