System and method for reconstructing a diagnostic trajectory

1. A method of reconstructing a diagnostic trajectory of an examination of a specimen, comprising:

obtaining, with a microscope, a plurality of images of a specimen at a first magnification, the plurality of images together comprising a reference image of substantially the entire specimen, and;

programming a computer to:

transmit the plurality of images;

receive a plurality of requests to view a plurality of areas of the reference image at magnifications greater than the first magnification;

transmit an area image for each of said plurality of areas;

archive said area images, X-Y coordinates of each of said area images, and a time stamp of each of said requests; and

reconstruct a trajectory of an examination of the specimen by presenting the archived area images in temporal order according to the time stamps.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising programming the computer to archive illumination data of each of the requests.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising programming the computer to archive a resolution of each of the requests.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising programming the computer to archive the magnifications greater than said first magnification.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the specimen comprises tissue.

6. A system for reconstructing a diagnostic trajectory of an examination of a specimen, the system comprising:

a microscope with a computer controlled stage for receiving the specimen, the stage selectively shiftable according to X-Y coordinates;

an image capturing device arranged to capture images of the specimen through the microscope;

a processor arranged to control the microscope and the image capturing device, the processor programmed with an algorithm for:

capturing a specimen image with the image capturing device at a first magnification and transmitting the specimen image;

receiving a plurality of requests to view a plurality of areas of the specimen image at magnifications greater than the first magnification;

capturing an area image of each of the plurality of areas with the image capturing device, and transmitting each of the area images;

archiving the area images, X-Y coordinates of each of the areas, and a time stamp for each of the requests; and

reconstructing a trajectory of an examination of the specimen by presenting the archived images in temporal order according to the time stamps.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the algorithm includes archiving illumination data for each of the requests.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the algorithm includes archiving a resolution for each of the requests.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the algorithm includes archiving magnifications greater than said first magnification.

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the specimen comprises tissue.

11. A system for reconstructing a diagnostic trajectory of an examination of a specimen, the system comprising:

means for capturing images of the specimen through the microscope at a plurality of magnifications;

means for archiving the captured images; and

a processor programmed with an algorithm for:

capturing a specimen image at a first magnification with the means for capturing images;

receiving a plurality of requests to view a plurality of areas of the specimen image at magnifications greater than the first magnification;

capturing an area image of each of the plurality of areas with the means for capturing images;

archiving the area images, X-Y coordinates of each of the areas, and a time stamp for each of the requests with the means for archiving images; and

reconstructing a trajectory of an examination of the specimen by presenting the archived images in temporal order according to the time stamps.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the algorithm further includes archiving illumination data for each of the requests with the means for archiving images.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the algorithm further includes archiving a resolution for each of the images with the means for archiving images.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the means for capturing images includes an image capturing device.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the image capturing device comprises a high-resolution, color, digital video camera.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the means for archiving images includes a computer.

17. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a graphical user interface for enabling a user to generate the requests.

18. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a telecommunications interface.

19. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a microscope.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the microscope includes a computer controlled stage.