Summary:
Personalized medicine is driving the growing field of molecular research to illuminate the causes of disease and the development of innovative therapies. In line with this, research institutions are faced with larger workloads, the need for efficient global team communication, and improved accuracy and consistency of results. These growing challenges require solutions that enable research institutions to meet these goals, while maintaining compliance with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) standards.
This study looks at a large US institute, with a focus on molecular research, who sought a digital pathology solution to address growing challenges associated with increased research workloads in the histology laboratory. The primary need was a standardized approach to image analysis that would save time, and improve consistency in nuclear quantification and biomarker co-localization. Furthermore, they sought a centralized platform to manage digital slides and associated information, including image analysis algorithms and results. This solution should be easily and securely accessed by users in their expanding consult network, which would remove the overhead of shipping slides for review. Following implemetation of their Aperio ePathology system, automated image analysis improved from several minutes to seconds per slide and provided standardization of results through increased accuracy and reproducibility. Algorithm flexibility enabled the lab to customize analysis protocols for individual research projects. The implementation of digital pathology also aided in the development of a globally-shared library that facilitated faster collaboration and improved standardization of data among investigators. This library enabled collation of images and research project data, which could be recalled at any time. Economically, the Aperio ePathology Solution alleviated the need for additional lab personnel and costs related to slide handling and shipping logistics. In addition, income is being generated by the lab through a central scanning service.
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