Visualization issues in telepathology: the role of the Internet Imaging Protocol

Image visualization may become a difficult task in telemedicine, especially when large data sets are to be delivered through the Internet and selectively analyzed by the physician. A new protocol - the Internet Imaging Protocol, IIP - has been recently proposed by a consortium of companies, with the aim of distributing efficiently multiresolution images on the WWW, for both visualization and printing purposes. The proposed protocol is indeed sufficiently general to be considered for a wide range of applications. The present paper analyses it from the point of view of telepathology, i.e., the transmission of medical images coming from microscopes. We argue that pathology images can be delivered by means of the IIP, with advantages on the visualization interface, which closely reproduces the direct use of a microscope. A sample application is presented, aimed at delivering pathology cases for second opinion diagnosis as well as for continuing medical education.