Patent ID: 8346574

Claim:
A tangible non-transitory computer-readable storage device storing computer-executable program instructions that generate a user interface for displaying workflow information associated with a tissue specimen in a pathology laboratory, the program instructions performing a method comprising: displaying a virtual laboratory component providing a graphical representation that depicts an appearance and physical layout of a physical pathology laboratory, the virtual laboratory component having one or more virtual laboratory stations graphically representative of one or more corresponding physical laboratory stations for processing the tissue specimen, wherein relative positions of the virtual laboratory components reflect relative positions of the corresponding physical laboratory stations, and wherein the tissue specimen is processed by the one or more physical laboratory stations according to a workflow; displaying a specimen indicator that indicates a current specimen state based on a current relationship of the tissue specimen to the workflow; wherein the one or more virtual laboratory stations include at least one of a tissue specimen receiving station, a tissue specimen grossing station, a tissue specimen processing station, a tissue specimen embedding station, a tissue specimen sectioning station, a tissue specimen staining station, a tissue specimen imaging station, a tissue specimen archiving station, or a tissue specimen image archiving station, enabling a first active component associated with the virtual laboratory component, wherein the first active component is configured to receive a user selection of a virtual laboratory station graphically representative of a corresponding physical laboratory station; and generating a supplemental view component of the selected virtual laboratory station in response to the user selection, wherein the supplemental view provides supplemental information on processing of the tissue specimen by the corresponding physical laboratory station graphically represented by the selected virtual laboratory station.