iPath

iPath

Original author(s)	Kurt Brauchli
Developer(s)	Institute of Pathology of the University of Basel
Initial release	May 22, 2001 (2001-05-22)
Stable release	2.1.15  (January 2, 2020 (2020-01-02)) [±]
Preview release	none [±]
Written in	PHP
Operating system	Cross-platform
Available in	English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Ukrainian
Type	Laboratory informatics software
License(s)	GNU General Public License
Website	sourceforge.net/apps/trac/ipath/

iPath is a free open-source "collaborative platform for exchange of medical knowledge, distance consultations, group discussions and distance teaching in medicine."

Product history

In 2000 the University of Basel's Department of Pathology required an upgrade of its telemicroscopy system to a more open, web-based solution that would allow easier collaboration on pathology projects. From this iPath was born, released to the general public in May 2001 as open-source via SourceForge. In early 2002, starting with release 0.3.1, the project was then moved from SourceForge to Savannah.

However, by early 2005 weaknesses in the programming (vague development model; poor separation of data and visualization layers; inability to support large user numbers) became apparent, necessitating a complete redevelopment of iPath (as version 2.0).

In March 2009, the project slowly began moving back to SourceForge. The last verifiable release of iPath is version 2.1.9 on January 28, 2010. The current development status of this project is extremely vague. Live examples of iPath on the Web show many with version 2.1.13, but no such file exists on the SourceForge page. The SourceForge repository does show activity on the project during 2012, however.

In January 2020, a version 2.1.15 was unexpectedly released. The changelog with the file was not updated, so it's not clear what this version adds or updates.

These are the known release dates of iPath. Note some releases are missing due to incomplete data by the developer:

Version	Release date
2.1.15	02 January 2020
2.1.13	Unknown
2.1.9	28 January 2010
2.1.6	24 August 2009
2.1.4	12 August 2009
2.0.8	02 September 2008
2.0.7	16 July 2008
2.0.6	08 October 2007
2.0.5	06 December 2006
2.0.0	19 April 2006
0.7.2	12 November 2004
0.7.0	26 March 2004
0.6.5	16 November 2002
0.6.3	16 October 2002
0.6	24 August 2002
0.5.2	21 June 2002
0.4.3	13 April 2002
0.4.2	30 March 2002
0.4.1	19 March 2002
0.4.0	05 March 2002
0.3.1	30 January 2002
0.3	13 August 2001
0.1.3	29 May 2001
0.1	22 May 2001

Features

Features of iPath include:

• virtual communities
• case management
• document management
• commenting
• custom forms
• visualization
• multi-language support
• XML support
• data import/export
• user-based security
• modular
• telemicroscopy support

Hardware/software requirements

Requirements for installing iPath include:

• Apache 1.3 or 2, or an IIS web server
• PHP version 5+ with the DOM and XSL modules enabled
• MySQL version 4 or 5, or PostgreSQL version 7 or 8
• ImageMagick or alternatively the gd2module for PHP, with the gd2 module

Refer to the installation manual or this PDF document for more information.

Videos, screenshots, and other media

Screenshots can be found on the SourceForge page.

Demo examples of iPath can be found here.

Further reading

• Brauchli, Kurt (2009). "Part II: The iPath Telemedicine System" (PDF). Telemedicine for Improving Access to Health Care in Low-Resource Areas: From Individual Diagnosis to Strengthening Health Systems. Suedwestdeutscher Verlag fuer Hochschulschriften. pp. 28–42. ISBN 3838103904. http://www.chos-wg.eu/ipath/The_iPath_Telemedicine_System.pdf. 

• Hitchcock, Charles L. (February 2011). "The Future of Telepathology for the Developing World". Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine 135 (2): 211–214. PMID 21284440. http://www.archivesofpathology.org/doi/abs/10.1043/1543-2165-135.2.211. 

External links

• iPath on Savannah
• old iPath instance at University of Basel
• new iPath instance at University of Basel