ABSTRACT
Introduction: Although many studies have been conducted in the telepathology field in recent years, a systematic review that examines studies in a comparative manner has not yet been undertaken. This paper aims to review the published papers on telepathology projects and compare them in several aspects such as telepathology method, telecommunication method, clinical outcome, etc.
Method: This is a systematic review study. PubMed database was used to find the studies published in the past ten years [2004-2014]. The 71 final related papers were evaluated. Data were extracted from these studies based on the following items: country, national [in country] or international [between countries], frozen section or slide, body part, type of camera used, telecommunication method, telepathology method, clinical outcome, cost evaluation, satisfaction evaluation and the description of consultation providers and receivers. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis
Results: Results showed that most of the studies were performed in developed countries on a national level, on slide and on a specific body part. In most studies, a Nikon camera was used to take images. Online methods were the most used telecommunication method in the studies, while store and forward was the most used telepathology method. Clinical outcome of many studies showed that telepathology is a reliable and accurate method for consultation. More than half of the studies considered the cost, and most of them showed that a telepathology system is cost effective. Few studies evaluated satisfaction of the participants. In most studies, the telepathology project was undertaken between pathologists
Conclusion: Although there is enough evidence to suggest that telepathology is an effective way of consultation between pathologists, there are still some areas that should be addressed and for which there is a lack of convincing evidence. For example, pathologist satisfaction, cost evaluation, legal issues and ethical issues still need to be addressed