Beyond the Monitor: Mixed Reality Visualization and AI for Enhanced Digital Pathology Workflow
Journal:
arXiv
Published Date:
May 5, 2025
Abstract
Pathologists rely on gigapixel whole-slide images (WSIs) to diagnose diseases
like cancer, yet current digital pathology tools hinder diagnosis. The immense
scale of WSIs, often exceeding 100,000 X 100,000 pixels, clashes with the
limited views traditional monitors offer. This mismatch forces constant panning
and zooming, increasing pathologist cognitive load, causing diagnostic fatigue,
and slowing pathologists' adoption of digital methods. PathVis, our
mixed-reality visualization platform for Apple Vision Pro, addresses these
challenges. It transforms the pathologist's interaction with data, replacing
cumbersome mouse-and-monitor navigation with intuitive exploration using
natural hand gestures, eye gaze, and voice commands in an immersive workspace.
PathVis integrates AI to enhance diagnosis. An AI-driven search function
instantly retrieves and displays the top five similar patient cases
side-by-side, improving diagnostic precision and efficiency through rapid
comparison. Additionally, a multimodal conversational AI assistant offers
real-time image interpretation support and aids collaboration among
pathologists across multiple Apple devices. By merging the directness of
traditional pathology with advanced mixed-reality visualization and AI, PathVis
improves diagnostic workflows, reduces cognitive strain, and makes pathology
practice more effective and engaging. The PathVis source code and a demo video
are publicly available at: https://github.com/jaiprakash1824/Path_Vis
