Development of Automatic Portable Pathology Scanner and Its Evaluation for Clinical Practice

Digital pathological scanners transform traditional glass slides into whole slide images (WSIs), which significantly improve the efficiency of pathological diagnosis and promote the development of digital pathology. However, the huge economic burden limits the spread and application of general WSI scanners in relatively remote and backward regions. In this paper, we develop an automatic portable cytopathology scanner based on mobile internet, Landing-Smart, to avert the above problems. Landing-Smart is a tiny device with a size of 208 mm × 107 mm × 104 mm and a weight of 1.8 kg, which integrates four main components including a smartphone, a glass slide carrier, an electric controller, and an optical imaging unit. By leveraging a simple optical imaging unit to substitute the sophisticated but complex conventional light microscope, the cost of Landing-Smart is less than $3000, much cheaper than general WSI scanners. On the one hand, Landing-Smart utilizes the built-in camera of the smartphone to acquire field of views (FoVs) in the section one by one. On the other hand, it uploads the images to the cloud server in real time via mobile internet, where the image processing and stitching method is implemented to generate the WSI of the cytological sample. The practical assessment of 209 cervical cytological specimens has demonstrated that Landing-Smart is comparable to general digital scanners in cytopathology diagnosis. Landing-Smart provides an effective tool for preliminary cytological screening in underdeveloped areas.

[Mobile internet based survey of current status of HIV test and related factors in men who have sex with men in college students in China]

Objective: To assess the current status of HIV test during the past year and related factors in men who have sex with men (MSM) in college students in China. Methods: Based on a MSM website, a cross-sectional study was conducted in 500 MSM in college students aged 18-25 years, who were selected based on the estimated HIV detection rate of 50% in this population, by means of mobile phone questionnaire survey. χ(2) test and non-conditional multivariate logistic regression analysis were conducted to identify the factors related with HIV test, respectively. Results: The mean age of MSM in college students was 20.99 (±0.04) years and the HIV test rate during the past year was 47.1%(652/1 384). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that active factors associated with HIV test included awareness of HIV test (OR=6.37, 95%CI: 3.592-11.300), willing to receive regular HIV testing (OR=2.64, 95%CI: 1.191-2.631) well-knowing or not knowing of the HIV infection statues of their regular sex partners (OR=3.58, 95%CI: 2.138-5.996), (OR=2.25, 95%CI: 1.479-3.422), respectively. The negative factors associated with HIV test included believing their regular sex partners not being infected with HIV (OR=0.65, 95%CI: 0.445-0.938), having only one regular sex partner during the past year (OR=0.37, 95%CI: 0.232-0.589). Conclusion: The survey indicated that the HIV test rate in MSM in college students during the past year was low. The MSM in college students are usually sexual active, but less of them received HIV test due to the trust between them and less number of sexual partners. Close attention should be paid to the AIDS intervention in this population.