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Virtual Microscopy Goes Global: The Images Are Virtual and the Problems Are Real

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Biomedical Visualisation

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1421))

Abstract

For the last two centuries, the scholarly education of histology and pathology has been based on technology, initially on the availability of low-cost, high-quality light microscopes, and more recently on the introduction of computers and e-learning approaches to biomedical education. Consequently, virtual microscopy (VM) is replacing glass slides and the traditional light microscope as the main instruments of instruction in histology and pathology laboratories. However, as with most educational changes, there are advantages and disadvantages associated with a new technology. The use of VM for the teaching of histology and pathology requires an extensive infrastructure and the availability of computing devices to all learners, both posing a considerable financial strain on schools and students. Furthermore, there may be valid reasons for practicing healthcare professionals to maintain competency in using light microscopes. In addition, some educators may be reluctant to embrace new technologies. These are some of the reasons why the introduction of VM as an integral part of histology and pathology instruction has been globally uneven. This paper compares the teaching of histology and pathology using traditional or VM in five different countries and their adjacent regions, representing developed, as well as developing areas of the globe. We identify general and local roadblocks to the introduction of this still-emerging didactic technology and outline solutions for overcoming these barriers.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. May Al-Habib (Al-Nahrain College of Medicine, Bagdad, Iraq) and Dr. Nicolas Wickens (Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa) for allowing us to use their photos depicting histology instruction at their schools and Dr. Margarita De Lima Eljuri for communicating how VM was used for histology education during the COVID-19 pandemic at her school, the Universidad Central de Venezuela. We are also grateful to Dr. Mike Welsh (formerly University of Michigan, USA) for giving us permission to use a photograph of him teaching medical students histology at the University of Michigan and to Dr. Sarah Hortsch (University of Michigan, USA) for suggesting many improvements to our manuscript draft.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Cell and Developmental Biology and of Learning Health Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Michael Hortsch

  2. Department of Anatomy, University of Ghana Medical School, University of Ghana, Korle Bu, Accra, Ghana

    Nii Koney-Kwaku Koney

  3. Government Medical College Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

    Aswathy Maria Oommen & Doris George Yohannan

  4. Kerala University of Health Sciences, Thrissur, Kerala, India

    Aswathy Maria Oommen & Doris George Yohannan

  5. Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Yan Li

  6. University of International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Lusophony, Redenção, Brazil

    Ana Caroline Rocha de Melo Leite

  7. Department of Morphology, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil

    Virgínia Cláudia Carneiro Girão-Carmona

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  1. Michael Hortsch
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  2. Nii Koney-Kwaku Koney
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  3. Aswathy Maria Oommen
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  4. Doris George Yohannan
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  5. Yan Li
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  6. Ana Caroline Rocha de Melo Leite
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  7. Virgínia Cláudia Carneiro Girão-Carmona
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Hortsch .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Scott Border

  2. Anatomy Facility, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Paul M. Rea

  3. School of Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Iain D. Keenan

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Hortsch, M. et al. (2023). Virtual Microscopy Goes Global: The Images Are Virtual and the Problems Are Real. In: Border, S., Rea, P.M., Keenan, I.D. (eds) Biomedical Visualisation. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1421. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30379-1_5

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