Nowadays we live in a more and more virtual world. We carry far less money with us than we did earlier, we don't need to go to shops to buy any of our goods and sitting by our computers we can enter different worlds (like World of Warcraft from the fantasy).
We get used to these things, but what is virtual microscopy? Microscopy without slides and microscope. The only thing one needs is a computer - and some software. This is the "user" side - simple, cheap, effective. But what is in the background. The huge microscope manufacturers have their own solutions (like dotSlide system from Olympus). The hardware part is easy to use, highly sophisticated, complicated and expensive hardware (set of a high quality microscope, motorized stage, fast, high resolution camera and a computer).
How do we digitize slides?
We can digitize almost any "normal" microscopy slides. Digitizing a slide can be very time consuming - mostly depending on the objective used (that can be 10-40x). From the area of interest microprographs are taken with 5-10% overlap and then these images are merged to one large image (up to 1-2 Gb!).
Once a slide is digitized there no more need for the digitizing system. After this point either with a special program or just simply with a web browser users can overview/zoom the whole slide or just a little part of it.
What is this whole thing good for?
Mainly two purposes could be mentioned: pathology-telepathology and education.
Once a slide is digitized it can be made available anyone any time. The number of virtual microscopy sites has greatly increased in the past days. For students in a few minutes almost any slides with the most of the stainings is available on the internet.
For me as a practicing medical doctor telepathology is even more exciting use of virtual microscopy. Slide seminars can be organized on the internet where unlimited number of pathologist can review the material. The size of the tissue block is not a limiting factor anymore - it is enough to prepare one representative slide and all can see the same sample.
On the other hand there are always complicated cases just some years before it took rather long time to send slides with post to the consultants, now after digitizing they can review, consult the case, give their opinion.
And this is only the beginning :D