News for Leica SCN400

Slide scanners – as they are used since some years in modern laboratories – produce digital images of scientific slides, which have been investigated formerly by light microscopes.

The slide scanner provides the user with a digital image of the whole slide, why it also called "whole slide scanner" or "digital slide scanner". And the images produced are named "digital slides" or "virtual slides".

How to produce a "virtual slide"

Modern slide scanners utilize the principle of so-called line-scanners. These kind of scanners work in contrast to point scanners with an array of optical sensors to scan the image row by row. Afterwards the slide scanner software stitch the digital images of these lines (called "swathes") together to produce one digital image.

The optical system of slide scanners

Slide scanners for scientific slides contain optical systems comparable to light microscopes but optimized to the needs of optical sensors. Similar to microscopes the user can choose between different magnifications and adapt brightness. Typical scientific slide scanners offer magnifications for creating virtual slides between 5x and 40x.

Characteristics of virtual slides

Virtual slide files – also called digital slides - can easily reach sizes of several gigabyte. Within such an image it is possible for the user to navigate through the complete scientific specimen. Additionally the user can zoom-in and zoom-out within the probe.

Leica SCN400 Slide Scanner.

More and more pathology laboratories take the step to the "digital pathology lab" and purchase so-called slide scanners.

These optical based high-tech instruments provide the users with what experts call "whole slide images".

• Leica SCN400 Slide Scanner

Creating digital slides

Some customers ask about the benefits and advantages of such instruments compared to the fully motorized microscope-camera systems, which has been on the market since a long time.

To answer this question, you must understand the differences between both optical systems.

• With motorized microscope systems the user can take digital images of one or more regions of interest in different magnifications.
• In contrast to that, slide scanners create images of the complete slide in arbitrary magnifications.

This is, why the method is also called "whole slide imaging" or "whole slide scanning". And the so created files are called "virtual slides" or "digital slides".

Benefits and applications

The advantages of a slide scanner compared to a conventional digital microscopy system are variously. With the slide scanner software a user is able to observe and navigate on a PC-monitor the whole digitized image, which contains even the information to change magnifications (zoom-in or-out).

Additionally the slide scanner files can be made available via intranet or internet. This enables users to set e.g. a diagnosis from virtually everywhere.

With these opportunities a second opinion is much easier, more convenient and safer, because the pathologist does not need to trust on the regions of interest another colleague has taken, he can set his own regions of interest on the digital slide the slide scanner provides.

Even teaching of pathology students and future pathologists profit from digital pathology: studies of digital slides can be made easily from home and each student gets the same specimen to observe.

With slide scanners the door to the arena of digital pathology has been opened widely and various applications up to semi-automated self-diagnostics will follow step-by-step.

Wetzlar, Germany

With its unprecedented scanning speed and top-quality on-screen imaging, the new Leica SCN400 Slide Scanner offers an alternative to the microscope for the examination of histological samples in pathology, research, and teaching. The Leica custom tailored lens for a digital sensor, specially designed for high-res scans, ensures that the resolution and color fidelity of the image on the screen are just as good as that of the microscope image. Thanks to the Dynamic Focus principle which keeps the sample in focus for the full duration of the scan, even difficult samples can be effortlessly digitized with the Leica SCN400.

For Everyday Diagnosis: Speed and Efficiency

The Leica SCN400 is able to load and scan up to four specimens at a time. With a scanning rate of 100 secs per 15 x 15 mm at 20x magnification, sample throughput is substantially increased. The matching Autoloader Leica SL801 is capable of scanning up to 384 samples at the same time, overnight if required, offering completely new options for automated operation. The user can keep loading new samples or remove finished scans without interrupting the process. Once a sample has been digitized, it can be easily retrieved, processed and made available to a defined group of users in a database. Thanks to digitization, there are no more problems with bleaching specimens.

Quality Control, Documentation and Storage

The Leica SCN400 provides a quick and inexpensive way of sending digitized samples to associates and colleagues all over the world for mutual discussion, enabling users to obtain second opinions and meet the growing quality requirements in medical diagnosis. Besides saving time and money sending the valuable samples, the risk of broken slides is also eliminated.

New Avenues for Interactive Teaching

The Leica SCN400 opens up new avenues for interactive teaching. Students are able to watch a sample being examined in real time on the monitor. Interesting, rare or classic case studies can be easily and safely stored together with annotations for teaching purposes and retrieved by students via the Internet as needed.

Note: For Research use only in the U.S.A. and the People’s Republic of China.

• Press Release Leica SCN400 English (Word)
• Press Release Leica SCN400 German (Word)
• More Product Information Leica SCN400