The Use of Smartphone for Liver Graft Biopsy Assessment at the Time of Procurement

A Novel "Work from Home Setup" for Telepathology Second Opinion of Oral Lesions

The advent of smartphones with high-resolution cameras has opened up new possibilities in the field of telepathology for a second opinion especially in the COVID-19 era. The aim of this study was to evaluate the intraobserver concordance of a novel “work from home setup” with conventional microscopy diagnosis taken as the gold standard. A total of 90 cases of oral biopsies diagnosed by one pathologist were photographed with a smartphone camera. The static images were transferred via Google Drive and viewed on a 40-inch LED television screen connected by an HDMI cable to a laptop by the same pathologist. A wash-off period of 4 months was provided to avoid recall bias. The intraobserver concordance of Google Drive transfer and conventional microscopy was calculated. The cases in which the conventional slide microscopy and smartphone image diagnosis (SPID) via Google Drive were concordant constituted 98.9% (89/90), and the ones with discordant diagnoses made up 1.1% (01/90). Smartphone-assisted telepathology can be useful for a second opinion. The images can be stored on a Google Drive and then downloaded to a personal computer and viewed on large-screen television to attain high levels of diagnostic accuracy.

Accurate assessment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease lesions in liver allograft biopsies by a smartphone platform: A proof of concept

Macrovesicular steatosis (MS) is a major risk factor for liver graft failure after transplantation and pathological microscopic examination of a frozen tissue section remains the gold standard for its assessment. However, the latter requires an experienced in-house pathologist for correct and rapid diagnosis as well as specific equipment that is not always available. Smartphones, which are must-have tools for everyone, are very suitable for incorporation into promising technology to generate moveable diagnostic tools as for telepathology. The study aims to compare the microscopic assessment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) spectrum in liver allograft biopsies by a smartphone microscopy platform (DIPLE device) to standard light microscopy. Forty-two liver graft biopsies were evaluated in transmitted light, using an iPhone X and the microscopy platform. A significant correlation was reported between the two different approaches for graft MS assessment (Spearman's correlation coefficient: r = .93; p < .001) and for steatohepatitis feature (r = .56; p < .001; r = .45; p < .001). Based on these findings, a smartphone integrated with a cheap microscopy platform can achieve adequate accuracy in the assessment of NAFLD in liver graft and could be used as an alternative to standard light microscopy when the latter is unavailable.