Digital pathology’s past to present

Abstract

Digital pathology is a rapidly growing field that did not even exist 20 years ago. However, in some ways, its origins date back to the earliest attempts at telepathology back in the 1960s. This chapter provides a brief historical perspective on how digital pathology came to be. It answers questions like why does it exist and what need does it fulfill? It also provides a brief summary of current applications and the challenges ahead; explains why we believe digital pathology is rapidly coming of age; and describes the converging factors that lead us to this conclusion.