The most common file format outputted by the slide scanner in the Pathology Learning Centre (PLC) is the Virtual Slide Image (VSI) file format. These images can be viewed either online on UCT’s Olympus virtual microscope or locally on your own computer.
To view the images online, one must login to UCT’s Olympus virtual microscope. This is only possible if you have requested online hosting and have a virtual microscope account.
To view and annotate VSI files locally, additional software is required. There are multiple software packages which open VSI files. The two most popular are OlyVIA and QuPath. OlyVIA was built by Olympus and is thus recommended. QuPath is a more general purpose whole slide imaging software. The software you will require will depend on your protocol, imaging needs, operating system etc.