Advances in Digital Pathology

Research advances in technology are increasingly being utilized to automate and digitize healthcare processes and laboratory information system (LIS system)/lab management system software. These advancements have helped speed up clinical diagnosis and treatment, thus improving patient outcomes. 

One such emerging technology is digital imaging, which has transformed the field of pathology, specifically digital pathology, by enabling high-throughput scanning of samples collected from patients.  

The traditional way of preparing a tissue sample for investigation and LIS pathology management is as follows: A histology tech segments the sample into thin slices and then mounts them onto glass slides. These are next processed to improve the final image quality. The prepared slides are then sent to the pathologist who examines the samples under a microscope to determine or confirm a diagnosis. 

While these steps are mostly followed presently, digitization has begun to transform anatomic pathology LIS systems and laboratory workflow management at the final step by converting the glass slide prepared for microscopy into a more flexible digitized image (digital pathology workflow).

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Defining Digital Pathology Workflow and Digital Pathology Solutions 

Digital pathology is made possible by digitizing prepared slides and facilitating digital pathology and LIS medical lab workflow. This includes acquiring and interpreting information via a pathology lab management system. The glass slides traditionally viewed under a microscope are replaced by digital images that can be scanned and viewed through a monitor. 

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The microscope here is replaced by the digital pathology scanner, which captures high-definition images of a slide (whole slide imaging) and transmits the captured images directly to the pathologist's screen via the pathology lab’s LIS software.

So what benefits do digital pathology solutions present?

First, the pathologist can share these digital pathology images quickly and easily with the rest of his or her medical team instead of transporting the slides from one clinical setting to another via courier. This improves turnaround time, and operational efficiency, leads to heightened collaboration, and improves patient outcomes.

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Digital Pathology Workflow with Image Scanners

A histology scanner or digital pathology scanner is a piece of equipment that can handle around 1,000 glass slides at a time, depending on their size, to capture digital pathology images and transmit them to an attached computer’s screen. 

The scanners must be stored within the lab on a countertop, where no vibrations from other lab equipment such as centrifuges or stirrers can blur the image quality. These scanners are integrated with a digital pathology camera or slide viewer, an attached monitor, and an image lab management system or LIS lab software application. 

Digital pathology scanners can be chosen according to their routine application in the lab. For example, if a pathologist needs images with high magnification (40X), he or she can use medical lab software that achieves higher magnification. 

Image acquisition through scanning is thus accelerated with today’s digital pathology solutions, improving turnaround time for clinical diagnosis within laboratory information systems (lab information system software). Though diagnostic aspects remain the same, today’s digital pathology solutions have increased lab efficiency, decreased costs, and improved clinical lab workflow. 

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Today’s digital pathology scanners can capture and process images within a minute, adjust them to multiple magnifications, and handle large volumes of slides.

The best digital pathology scanners are customizable to a lab’s needs. Here are two examples of customization labs can now utilize:

Complete Automation: The fully automated process of capturing whole slide images from slide preparation and management to diagnosis and reporting, with minimal or no human intervention. 

Semi-Automation: A semi-automated process that integrates manual and automated steps, combining human expertise with digital tools for preparation, management, diagnosis, and reporting. 

The scanners should also be compatible with modern pathology lab software and advanced laboratory information systems that automatically acquire, label, and store.

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Digital Pathology Workflow with Image Analysis Software

Through digital image analysis, LIS pathology labs leverage artificial intelligence (AI) based analytical tools and algorithms to improve a pathologist’s clinical lab workflow and decrease the chance of human errors that may arise during sample processing. 

Analysis of acquired images is semi-automated through digital pathology software, which allows a pathologist to investigate a slide by directly annotating the image with measurements made within the pathology lab software. 

Image acquisition management within the pathology software and pattern analysis on digitized images enable the interpretation of pathology data for clinical diagnosis. Pathologists can evaluate and compare their diagnoses with historical data stored and processed within the same image analysis software. 

Diagnostic digital pathology solutions thus support reproducible interpretations, empirical measurements, and increased confidence in the pathologist’s findings. 

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The Many Benefits of Digital Pathology Solutions

Anatomic pathology labs are adopting laboratory software systems that support advanced digital pathology solutions for numerous reasons: 

• Taking pathology digital simplifies image-sharing, allowing collaborations among a team of pathologists to accelerate diagnosis times. Digital pathology images can also be transmitted online to other team members for a second opinion. 
• Digital pathology images can be instantly, securely, and permanently stored on the cloud. This improves accessibility for peer consults, for example, yet keeps confidential patient information safe from theft, fire, and other events. 
• Digital pathology solutions include analysis tools within the pathology software that can be deployed to measure specific tissue biomarkers that indicate disease empirically. 
• Image analysis software enables robust investigation through AI-guided accurate diagnosis. Cloud storage also allows pathologists to compare their results to historical specimens and to compare multiple specimens side-by-side, improving the predictive power of pathology lab software algorithms.
• There is little risk of misidentification since slides are labeled with a barcode matched to a patient’s information. 
• Patients receive their diagnoses faster despite the increasing number of cases that anatomic pathology labs handle.
• Pathologists can improve their expertise by interacting with big data collected from the samples. 
• A digital pathology workflow provides a solid foundation for automation, thus allowing pathologists to implement better flexibility in their work schedules. 
• The image acquisition software and digital pathology workflow can be integrated into the lab information system software deployed within the LIS lab.
• A secure digital archive of the patient’s sample is kept instead of a slide or frozen section that takes up valuable physical storage space and adds to storage costs.
• Physical samples are subject to degradation whereas digital pathology ones are not.

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The Integration of Digital Pathology Solutions and LIS Lab Information Systems

Digital pathology solutions have advanced greatly thanks mainly to the many benefits they offer anatomic pathology groups. One key area of advancement has been digital pathology integration with LIS lab information systems. 

The best laboratory information system software is comprehensive and flexible, and labs that operate with modern LIS systems are at an advantage when adding new LIS lab technology like digital pathology to the workflow. 

Here are a few of the many advantages that come from a seamless digital pathology - laboratory information/LIS software integration:

• Efficient Laboratory Workflow Management: Digital pathology integration streamlines pathology lab management by allowing the smooth transfer of data and images between two integrated laboratory software systems. This reduces manual steps, minimizes errors, and speeds up diagnostic processing.
• Enhanced Accessibility: Digital pathology enables remote access to images and data, facilitating strong collaboration among pathologists regardless of where they are located. This greatly improves collaboration by adding a layer of consultation that may not have been possible in the past.
• Improved Accuracy: Digital pathology solutions often come with advanced image analysis tools that aid pathologists in diagnosis. Integration with advanced LIS laboratory information system software ensures that all relevant patient data is readily available during analysis and easily transferable into the LIS system software, leading to more accurate and comprehensive diagnostic reports.
• Centralized Data Management: The best laboratory information system software works closely with all digital pathology solutions to enable the centralized storage and management of anatomic pathology LIS data within the system database. This improves data integrity, security, and accessibility while simplifying data retrieval for audits and quality assurance purposes.
• Cost Savings: The long-term benefits of digital pathology and lab information system integration include reduced storage costs for physical slides, improved resource utilization, and potential savings from faster turnaround times and more accurate diagnoses.
• Scalability: Digital pathology solutions integrated with medical LIS system software can easily scale to accommodate growing volumes of cases and data. This scalability ensures laboratories can adapt to increasing workloads without compromising efficiency or quality.
• Compliance: Digital pathology integration with LIS system software helps laboratories comply with regulatory requirements by ensuring proper documentation, traceability, and data security measures. This simplifies the accreditation process and reduces the risk of compliance-related issues.
• Patient-Centric Care: By providing quicker access to pathology results, digital pathology integration with anatomic pathology LIS systems supports faster treatment decisions, improved patient outcomes, and more patient satisfaction. Patients also benefit from enhanced communication and transparency regarding the diagnostic process and their test results.

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The Future of Digital Pathology Solutions

The U.S. healthcare system faces increasing challenges due to the sheer volume of data generated during diagnostic processes. 

Sophisticated and innovative digital pathology solutions are needed to cope with the increasing demands of diagnostic lab workflow. Advances in machine learning and big data processing will be increasingly incorporated into many areas, including diagnostic digital pathology. 

Complex image analyses, such as multiplex analysis (which measures more than one marker within the same tissue sample), can be deployed by digital pathology solutions to delineate signal intensities between different markers. This kind of quantitation is difficult to achieve manually, under the microscope, due to the diffusion of some stains specific to markers in a tissue sample. 

Another exciting prospect for digital pathology laboratory software systems lies in their potential to be combined with other clinical diagnostic methods to improve the prognostic value of a diagnosis. 

For example, the read-out of a biomarker expression by digital pathology image analysis software can be compared with protein expression levels calculated from a mass spectrometric analysis of the same tissue sample. This allows diversification in diagnostic tools that can complement one other’s functionalities to improve the clinical diagnosis workflow. 

Finally, the availability of image acquisition management and modern laboratory information systems, coupled with the rapid strides in regulatory policies for data sharing, offers exciting prospects. 

Today’s digital pathology solutions have ushered in a positive change from the classical methods with computer-based virtual microscopy, cloud-based data storage, and the many available tools that use AI and machine learning to support pathologists in their work.

On-Demand Webinar: Learn How Modern Anatomic Pathology LIS Software Can Transform Your Lab’s Operations