Slide scanning companies

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SLUsagar

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I'm looking to see what all companies folks would recommend to use for a monthly path society meeting we hold. Hoping to upload cases for monthly meeting for folks to look.

Talked to Aperio, their prices are outrageous.

other companies I should approach?

Thanks
 
I'm looking to see what all companies folks would recommend to use for a monthly path society meeting we hold. Hoping to upload cases for monthly meeting for folks to look.

Talked to Aperio, their prices are outrageous.

other companies I should approach?

Thanks

The other big one I know is bioimagene. They recently got bought by Ventana making a fortune for the executives and patholgists that started the company. I doubt they are any cheaper. http://www.bioimagene.com/products_solutions/whole_slide_scanners/iScan_coreo.html

They also have that awesome PathXchange site.

It would probably be cheaper to go to an academic center and ask them to upload them for a small fee.
 
It would probably be cheaper to go to an academic center and ask them to upload them for a small fee.

There are a few low-res full slide scanners floating around out there, but what little I've seen of their example images really don't appear useful above something like 2x. Some university systems have purchased one or more to catalog a bunch of old slides, but once that's done I suspect their volume drops way off to typical "new" teaching cases. If you have a contact somewhere I tend to agree it's probably cheaper and easier. We've just started to price the latest hi-res/low-volume scanners, but I haven't had a quote come back yet (mainly pricing out of curiosity, I heard they were in the 100k range only a few years ago -- way out of budget for most places except a huge lab, large teaching center, or large grant).
 
Pathxchange will scan slides for free if you format them into a case presentation (at least minimal history, etc.). You physically send them the slide, they scan it and I believe they mail it back to you. Then it is potentially up for all to use, although you can limit this if you like. Go to www.pathxchange.org and click "add a case".

One potential limiting factor--I don't know how much lead time they need, or how much you have.

Having watched pathxchange since its start (not that long--about a year?), I am glad to see their project has gotten steam; it is becoming a great resource; however it must be expensive to run and one wonders when and how the quid pro quo is going to crop up.
 
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I'm looking to see what all companies folks would recommend to use for a monthly path society meeting we hold. Hoping to upload cases for monthly meeting for folks to look.

Talked to Aperio, their prices are outrageous.

other companies I should approach?

Thanks

what are the prices?

What medical society by chance?
 
Contact Dr. Yagi at MGH. She's the director of the pathology imaging and communication technology department there. Used her before with good results and reasonable cost.
 
Pathxchange will scan slides for free if you format them into a case presentation (at least minimal history, etc.). You physically send them the slide, they scan it and I believe they mail it back to you. Then it is potentially up for all to use, although you can limit this if you like. Go to www.pathxchange.com and click "add a case".

One potential limiting factor--I don't know how much lead time they need, or how much you have.

Having watched pathxchange since its start (not that long--about a year?), I am glad to see their project has gotten steam; it is becoming a great resource; however it must be expensive to run and one wonders when and how the quid pro quo is going to crop up.

I have sent many slides (about 100) to pathxchange to be scanned. It is currently free, although after speaking to a rep recently, I think they will eventually charge to scan (don't know how much). The site will remain free, though. They do a great job of scanning and returning the slides safely. If you send just a few and ask them to rush, I would say they could do it in a few weeks (maybe less). I usually send a large bolus of 50 or so slides at a time so they take a month or two with those. Email Kiha Lee if you have any questions: [email protected]; he has been great to work with.

One note: I would not mention that you are doing it for a state meeting. They can set up a "sub-site" for your group/meeting/department on pathxchange but this costs money. I would recommend just having them scan the slides under your name, and then you can email links out to everyone.

My pathxchange soft tissue collection (if you want to check out the quality): http://www.pathxchange.org/user/2587/cases
 
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