Development of Telepathology in Europe – in commemoration of Professor Etienne Martin

Implementation of telepathology in Europe started in the late 1980th and was actively promoted by an international European team of well - known pathologists. They formed a group of innovative colleagues, informed each other of their research goals and organized a series of European Telepathology Scientific Conferences which lasts until today. In their early days their main interest focussed on remote and straight forward frozen section services followed by consultation activities, and less often by image quantification and analysis. Now-a-days most members of the group were retired, others passed away. Therefore, it seems indicated to retrospectively analyse some early activities of telecommunication in pathology, to validate the results and specific conditions, and to commemorate the involved actors. One of the main players was Professor Etienne David Martin, Paris, who passed away recently. Herein, we describe the predominant incidents, factors and actions of the pathologists who implemented and directed the present stage of telepathology, including image analysis and diagnosis assistance