# Whole-slide scanners and image management

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/whole-slide-scanners/  
OnCo record `whole-slide-scanners` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The scanners that turn glass slides into gigapixel images, and the software that stores and serves them, without which pathology AI cannot run.

## Summary

Leica Biosystems (Aperio GT 450), Hamamatsu (NanoZoomer), 3DHISTECH (Pannoramic), Philips (IntelliSite; FDA-cleared for primary diagnosis 2017), Roche (VENTANA DP 600), and Grundium supply scanners; Sectra, Philips, Proscia (Concentriq), PathAI (AISight), Indica Labs (HALO), and Paige provide image management and viewing. Interoperability (DICOM-WSI) and storage costs (1-4 GB per slide) are the practical constraints on going fully digital.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: established
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Tags: supporting
- Principle: Automated microscopy tiles a slide at 20-40x, then stitches and compresses it into a pyramidal image; image management platforms index, stream, and integrate with LIS/EHR and AI.
- Strengths: Remote sign-out, second opinions, AI-ready archives
- Limitations: Storage and network cost; Scanner-to-scanner colour and focus variation affects AI; Workflow change management

## Sources

- FDA allows marketing of first whole slide imaging system for digital pathology (2017): https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-allows-marketing-first-whole-slide-imaging-system-digital-pathology

## Connected records

- technologies: [Digital pathology & AI](https://onco.cc/technologies/digital-pathology-ai/), [Flow cytometers](https://onco.cc/technologies/flow-cytometers/), [Histology automation and IHC autostainers](https://onco.cc/technologies/ihc-autostainers-histology-automation/), [Pathology & radiology foundation models](https://onco.cc/technologies/pathology-foundation-model/), [Telemedicine, teleoncology, and telepathology](https://onco.cc/technologies/telemedicine-teleoncology/)
- fronts: [AI & Computation](https://onco.cc/fronts/ai-computation/), [Diagnostics & Biomarkers](https://onco.cc/fronts/diagnostics/)
- companies: [3DHISTECH](https://onco.cc/companies/3dhistech/), [Hamamatsu Photonics](https://onco.cc/companies/hamamatsu/), [Indica Labs](https://onco.cc/companies/indica-labs/), [Leica Biosystems (Danaher)](https://onco.cc/companies/leica-biosystems/), [Philips](https://onco.cc/companies/philips/), [Proscia](https://onco.cc/companies/proscia/), [Roche / Genentech](https://onco.cc/companies/roche-genentech/), [Sectra](https://onco.cc/companies/sectra/)
- drugs: [Paige Prostate Detect](https://onco.cc/drugs/paige-prostate/)
- roadmaps: [AI in oncology roadmap: pattern readers → foundation models → agents in the workflow](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/ai-oncology-roadmap/), [Diagnostics roadmap: stains → gene panels → blood tests that decide treatment](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/diagnostics-roadmap/)
- terms: [Digital pathology and whole-slide images (WSI)](https://onco.cc/terms/digital-pathology-wsi/)

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