About Us
The Wits Digital Pathology Hub
A whole slide imaging facility in the Department of Anatomical Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand.
Who We Are
Digital Pathology at Wits
The Wits Digital Pathology Hub converts conventional histopathology glass slides into high-resolution digital whole slide images. Those images can be viewed, annotated, shared and archived without the physical slide ever leaving the building.
The Hub sits within the Department of Anatomical Pathology in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and serves researchers, teaching staff, postgraduate students and diagnostic pathologists.
Scanning is performed using an Evident VS200 whole-slide scanner, supporting brightfield imaging at 10×, 20×, and 40× magnification, with provision for future expansion to fluorescence imaging.
Research
Digitisation for pathology, oncology, infectious disease and biomedical research, including cohort scanning and image sets for preparation for quantitative analysis.
Teaching
Digital slide sets for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. One slide can be viewed simultaneously by an entire class, in the venue or remotely
Diagnostics and Consultation
Whole slide images can be shared securely with colleagues and specialists for second opinion and multidisciplinary discussion, without transporting glass.
Publication
Publication-quality images and figure panels prepared at the resolution and scale target journals require.
Archiving
Digitisation of teaching collections and rare cases, or irreplaceable slides, survives as a permanent digital record.
Image Analysis
Digital slides suitable for quantitative work: cell counting, morphometry, staining intensity and spatial measurement.
Equipment
Evident VS200 Whole Slide Scanner
The VS200 is a research-grade slide scanner supporting brightfield imaging. Scans are produced at 10x, 20x or 40x, in Flat, EFI or Z-stack mode depending on the specimen.
Output is in .vsi format. Depending on magnification and imaging mode, a single slide produces between roughly 2 GB and more than 12 GB of image data, so storage and transfer are planned per project.
Work With Us
Scanning is available to Wits researchers and teaching staff, and to external institutions by arrangement. Complete the request form and we will respond with a quotation.