Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26284154›Full record

ArticleJournal of pathology informatics2015

Investigation of scanning parameters for thyroid fine needle aspiration cytology specimens: A pilot study.

Maheswari S Mukherjee, Amber D Donnelly, Elizabeth R Lyden, Whitney R Wedel, Mary F McGaughey, John J Baker, Stanley J Radio

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PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of pathology informatics, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Study on the Transformation Process of Thyroid Fine-Needle Aspiration Liquid-Based Cytology to Whole-Slide Image.Cytopathology : official journal of the British Society for Clinical Cytology · 2025
    Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Maheswari S MukherjeeCytotechnology Education, College of Allied Health Professions, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
Amber D DonnellyCytotechnology Education, College of Allied Health Professions, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
Elizabeth R LydenDepartment of Biostatistics, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
Whitney R WedelDepartment of Pathology and Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
Mary F McGaugheyDepartment of Anatomic Pathology, Nebraska Medicine, Omaha, NE, USA.
John J BakerDepartment of Pathology and Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
Stanley J RadioCytotechnology Education, College of Allied Health Professions, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA ; Department of Pathology and Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInterest in developing more feasible and affordable applications of virtual microscopy in the field of cytology continues to grow.

aimsThe aim of this study was to investigate the scanning parameters for the thyroid fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology specimens. SUBJECTS AND

methodsA total of twelve glass slides from thyroid FNA cytology specimens were digitized at ×40 with 1 micron (μ) interval using seven focal plane (FP) levels (Group 1), five FP levels (Group 2), and three FP levels (Group 3) using iScan Coreo Au scanner (Ventana, AZ, USA) producing 36 virtual images (VI). With an average wash out period of 2 days, three participants diagnosed the preannotated cells of Groups 1, 2, and 3 using BioImagene's Image Viewer (version 3.1) (Ventana, Inc., Tucson, AZ, USA), and the corresponding 12 glass slides (Group 4) using conventional light microscopy.

resultsAll three raters correctly identified and showed complete agreement on the glass and VI for: 86% of the cases at FP Level 3, 83% of the cases at both the FP Levels 5 and 7. The intra-observer concordance between the glass slides and VI for all three raters was highest (97%) for Level 3 and glass, same (94%) for Level 5 and glass; and Level 7 and glass. The inter-rater reliability was found to be highest for the glass slides, and three FP levels (77%), followed by five FP levels (69.5%), and seven FP levels (69.1%).

conclusionsThis pilot study found that among the three different FP levels, the VI digitized using three FP levels had slightly higher concordance, intra-observer concordance, and inter-rater reliability. Scanning additional levels above three FP levels did not improve concordance. We believe that there is no added benefit of acquiring five FP levels or more especially when considering the file size, and storage costs. Hence, this study reports that FP level three and 1 μ could be the potential scanning parameters for the thyroid FNA cytology specimens.

Indexed as

Digital imagingscanning parametersthyroid fine needle aspirationvirtual microscopy

Identifiers

PMID26284154
PMCPMC4530505

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.