A EUROPEAN DE-FACTO STANDARD FOR IMAGE FOLDERS APPLIED TO TELEPATHOLOGY AND TEACHING

Since 1980, French pathologists at ADICAP (Association pour le Develop pement de l'Informatique en Cytologie et en Anatomie Pathologique) hav e created a common language code allowing the use of computers for rou tine applications. This code permitted the production of an associated exhaustive image bank of approximately 30 000 images. This task invol ved many specialists necessitating the definition of specific processe s for security and simplicity of data handling. In particular, it has been necessary to develop image communication. To achieve that goal, i t was necessary to define a folder, associating textual information to images. That was done through several industrial software providers c ontribution. Consequently, this folder, using a common packaging stand ard, allowed any pathologist access to images, codified data and clini cal information. Accessing folders has been made easy by launching a W eb server at CRIHAN under the supervision of ADICAP. An ADICAP softwar e user may not only browse through the folder but may also import them into their own system and produce new folders. Today more than a hund red users in France and in foreign countries are able to provide diagn ostic advice and also referential products useful for further educatio n and quality control. The next challenge is the development of this p reliminary de facto approach toward an internationally admitted standa rd suited for morphological image exchange. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd, All rights reserved.