Development of an Android based interactive Guide for the Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charite'

Abstract

Background Pathology is defined as the science of disease-induced tissue alterations that range from macroscopic via microscopic to molecular levels of view. Herein we report the implementation of portable electronic devices that offer a holistic education and visualize disease related tissue information of formalin fixed organs (macroscopic appearance) together with microscopic images. Aims Continuous content updates, high performance, data-caching and the use apps in offline mode without network connec­tion as well as the large amount of smartphone and tablet computers that run under Android operating system got us to create an appropriate system. The inclusion of virtual slides and virtual microscopy was assigned, however not yet possible at the date of system compilation. Methods We combined our virtual microscope „AndroScope“ with a new developed user-interface of the „Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum“ (Berlin Historic Medical Museum, BMM) for android based mobile devices such as smartphone and tablet com­puter. We used images of the exhibition samples, information of the corresponding organs and diseases, as well as epidemiology data and whole slide images for visualization of histological changes. Linkage of digital content and samples is realized using QR-codes to assure valid and user-friendly recognition. We have also evaluated other technologies such as NFC, Bluetooth, WiFi or GPS to ensure that the QR-Code solution is the best opinion. The application offers an online mode with full functionality and an offline mode with limited access to images as well as to the virtual microscope.

Keywords

• e-Learning
• Berlin Historic Medical Museum
• Android
• Podcast
• Holistic Education