PROTOTYPE DUPLICATION OF CYTOLOGY SPECIMEN

CERVICAL PAP-SMEARS, LIKE OTHER POTENTIALLY CANCEROUS CYTOLOGY SPECIMENS, CANNOT BE DUPLICATED PHOTOGRAPHICALLY BECAUSE OF THEIR ENORMOUS COMPLEXITY AND EXTREMELY SMALL FEATURES. SPATIAL RESOLUTION FAR SMALLER THAN THE GRAIN SIZE OF THE FINEST COLOR FILM IS REQUIRED TO CAPTURE THE FINE DETAIL THAT DISTINGUISHES BENIGN CELLS FROM MALIGNANT CELLS IF THE CELLS ARE TO BE REPRODUCED LIFE-SIZE. AS A RESULT, THE SHARING OF INFORMATION, TRAINING OF CYTOLOGISTS, PERIODIC REQUALIFICATION OF CYTOTECHNICIANS, AND DEVELOPMENT, QUALIFICATION AND MAINTENANCE OF AUTOMATED CELL-RECOGNITION SYSTEMS HAS BEEN, IS NOW, AND WILL BE, HAMPERED. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I EFFORT IS TO FABRICATE A PROTOTYPE, LIFE-SIZE, MONOCHROMATIC REPRODUCTION OF A PORTION OF A CYTOLOGY SPECIMEN USING THE MICROPHOTOLITHOGRAPHIC TOOLS OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY. WE ARE TAKING THIS APPROACH BECAUSE THE REQUIREMENTS TO DUPLICATE CELL IMAGES AND TO FABRICATE SEMICONDUCTOR CHIPS ARE VERY SIMILAR, AND THE TOOLS OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY ARE WELL DEVELOPED. THIS TECHNIQUE WILL BE EXTENDED IN PHASE II TO FULL COLOR AND ENTIRE SPECIMENS, AS WELL AS TO HEMATOLOGY, MICROBIOLOGY AND EVEN HISTOLOGY SPECIMENS WHERE THE TISSUE BLOCK WAS LOST OR HAD TOO LITTLE MATERIAL TO ALLOW MULTIPLE SECTIONS TO BE PREPARED.