Automation of gross photography using a remote-controlled digital camera system

Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Jun 2003 by Park, Rae-Woong, Eom, Joon-Hoe, Byun, Ho-Yong, Park, Peom, Et al

Cost Analysis

It was difficult to analyze the cost of our DGPS, because an entirely new system needed to be developed. Approximately US $26 500 was spent for the development of our system, as follows: US $4200 for purchase of a personal computer and digital cameras; US $7300 for development of the controller board, cables, metal box, and foot switch; and US $15000 for development of the software. Savings in personnel costs cannot be easily calculated. However, approximately 400 photographs are taken each month at the Ajou University Medical Center, a 1004-bed hospital. Because staff members using our system will no longer need to perform the manual labeling, tracking, and retrieval/ refiling steps outlined in the "Workflow Issues" section, we estimate a time savings of about 3 minutes per case. This savings translates to a reduction of about 20 hours per month or US $2500 per year in the gross photography process. As our system incurs neither film nor processing costs, the department's entire film budget also could be saved. The yearly film budget of the surgical pathology laboratory at Ajou University Medical Center is approximately US $5000.

COMMENT

Several DGPSs have been developed.1-5 Such systems were innovative in image management and their retrieval systems, but 3 problems still remained. First, the digital camera could not be controlled remotely. Second, downloading of the images was not performed automatically. Finally, as there was no automatic specimen number recognition system, slide-labeling work was inevitable. With the DGPS developed in this study, all of these problems are solved, greatly reducing the amount of time involved in gross photographic workflow (Figure 7).

The aperture and shutter speed of the Coolpix 995 cannot be controlled manually, so the camera's auto mode was applied. This problem is due to the camera's change in communication protocol into the so-called Nikon extended protocol, which is somewhat different from the previous protocol. Therefore, we applied the camera's Exposure Value control to accommodate this limitation. With the Exposure Value control, the aperture can be adjusted manually. All other manual functions can be controlled remotely.

Many advanced digital cameras with finer resolution are continuously appearing on the market, but because camera manufacturers do not open their cameras' communication protocols to the public, it is difficult to develop appropriate remote-control software. In addition, most software development kits provided by the manufacturers are of limited value because they are for older models of digital cameras. Even if a software development kit is finally available, that camera has usually become obsolete. It is regrettable that there is no choice but to use serial line snooping technology in a trial-and-error manner to develop a suitable remote-control program.

In most cases, a photograph of the whole specimen is sufficient for conferencing, because image quality remains satisfactory on subsequent magnification. This is because the number of pixels in the digital images in this system (2048 x 1536 pixels) is quadruple that of the typical monitor (1024 x 768 pixels) (Figure 6). Belanger et al4 provided a good description of the advantages and disadvantages of digital gross photography in comparison to traditional 35-mm photography. Since then, new technologies have overcome some of those disadvantages. Belanger et al4 pointed out the following 4 disadvantages of digital photography: (1) the initial cost of hardware is generally greater compared to a traditional 35-mm photography system; (2) resolution of the image is generally poorer than that of traditional 35-mm film; (3) professional and technical staff members have to become familiar with the new technology; and (4) to present a case at a clinical conference outside the department, the relevant digital images need to be converted to 35-mm slides. Clearly, however, the 3 latter disadvantages are becoming less noticeable. The image resolution of digital cameras is now approaching that of 35-mm cameras. The DGPS described in this article is easier to use compared to a 35-mm camera. And finally, most hospitals are now equipped with high-resolution digital projection equipment.