First Aperio and Dell, now Aurora and Hitachi. 

AURORA JOINS HITACHI DATA SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE PROGRAM TO OFFER BEST-IN-BREED DATA MANAGEMENT AND DIGITAL PATHOLOGY SOLUTIONS

MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA- March 20, 2012 – Aurora Interactive announced today that it has joined the Hitachi Data Systems Technology Alliance Program.  This will allow Aurora to deliver data management and digital pathology solutions to their clients, giving clients timely control of their data and medical choices.

“Aurora is proud to join the Hitachi Data Systems Technology Alliance Program. Hitachi Data Systems is a globally respected leader in the IT industry, and one of the premier technology and services providers to the medical field. Joining this program will allow us to seamlessly fulfill the needs of our clients who have taken the next step in digital pathology adoption and require universal and vendor neutral mass data management solutions. Our participation in the Hitachi Data Systems Technology Alliance Program is fully aligned with our strategy of universality and interoperability and our commitment to giving our clients control over their data and medical choices. As HDS believes that data drives our world and information is the new currency, Aurora believes that timely and efficient data and information access is the key to better patient care and outcomes,” stated Pierre Le Fèvre, President and Chief Executive Officer, Aurora Interactive.

“Hitachi Data Systems would like to welcome Aurora Interactive to our Technology Alliance Program. We strongly believe in partnering with best-in-breed providers to bring our clients leading technologies to pair with our data management systems. Aurora Interactive is an ideal digital pathology partner for us,” said Dave Wilson, senior director, Global Health Solutions,, Hitachi Data Systems.

About Aurora Interactive Ltd.

Aurora Interactive has developed the leading web based software platform (mScope) for simplification, productivity and ease of communications.  mScope’s Universal Web Viewer has collaborative tools to view medical slides and images anytime, anywhere, regardless of file format.  The software has four applications to aid digital pathology web based communications needs: mScope Education, mScope Clinical, mScope Research and mScope Universal Viewer. Aurora’s mission is to improve patient outcomes and help members of the medical community achieve their full potential by eliminating the learning, diagnostic and collaborative restrictions imposed by time and space. http://www.aurorainteractive.com 

4th April 2012, 4.15pmGMT /11.15amEST /8.15amPST /5.15pmCET

PathXL^TM Biobank is a highly configurable sample collection, tracking, storage, management and distribution platform that provides the flexibility required to build customised solutions across a range of biobank applications. 

As well as providing a complete biobank management solution, PathXL^TM Biobank is also available in the form of a virtual microscopy plug-in to existing biobank solutions enhancing its functionality and efficiency.

Guest Speaker:  

PathXL^TM Biobank was developed in partnership with the Northern Ireland Biobank; Dr Jackie James (Northern Ireland Biobank Scientific Lead) provides a customer insight. 

Why Attend?

This is the world’s first biobank platform with an inbuilt image management and viewing platform specifically for virtual slides.  Find out how you can manage collection, tracking and distribution of all samples in your biobank and see how easily researchers can search, review and request samples online.

Click here to register

On page 18 of this months' CAP Today within in article dedicated to "AP IT" is an ad from PathCentral mentioning the work of Dr. Greg Henderson and using onboard Wi-Fi, the ability to acccess a web-based LIS solution and review whole slide images from 35,000 feet as part of a non-profit health care initiative. 

Talk about cloud computing.  

Mobile devices, ubiquitous high speed bandwidth and web-based LIS systems allow for slide review and diagnoses independent of geography, even if you are flying over a fly-over state.

Check out the free online CAP Today publication for thoughts from many on the current state of "AP IT" and CAP Today's review of AP LIS systems this month. 

More news from USCAP week -- Aperio partners with Dell to create secure cloud for an electronic pathology network.  Aperio, in addition to providing slide scanners and associated software products for case management, viewing and image analysis is entering into providing a platform with a trusted server partner to facilitate collective intelligence around the globe. 

One of the keys to adoption remains making the process and processes "as fast as glass".  If this truly does shorten TAT for consults, further strengthening the case for e-Patholology solutions, as Dr. Epstein suggests below, another barrier is overcome. 

Example of a perfect storm for digital pathology - higher speed reliable scanners, reduced costs, faster, more reliable networks and storage through cloud computing and web-based viewing, analysis and reporting are highlighted by this collaboration.

Dell’s Unified Clinical Archive Cloud to Power Aperio ePathology Network™

VISTA, Calif., Mar 19, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Aperio, the leading provider of digital pathology systems, announced a strategic collaboration with Dell to create the world’s first scalable, secure medical cloud network for Pathology.

Through its secure cloud-based Unified Clinical Archive solution, Dell manages nearly 5 billion medical images and studies for healthcare organizations. And now, Dell will host the existing suite of Aperio’s industry-leading solutions for digital pathology. Fortified by Dell’s standards-based technology and storage capabilities, Aperio’s ePathology Network™ solution will provide secure, compliant, worldwide access to pathology consultations via the cloud.

“Our goal is to address the regional and global imbalances of pathology expertise available for patient care by enabling access to pathologists for all types of consultations, regardless of location. With Dell’s cloud-based archiving platform, we can make our ePathology Solutions™ more widely available,” said David Schlotterbeck, CEO of Aperio.

“This state-of-the-art ePathology Network technology from Aperio will revolutionize the practice of secondary consultations,” states Dr. Jonathan Epstein, Director of Surgical Pathology at Johns Hopkins. “We fully expect that the time to return an opinion on these cases will be significantly reduced -- from multiple days to as a few as a couple of hours in critical cases. This will have a significant positive impact on patient care.”

Dell and Aperio are also collaborating to develop the world’s leading repository of characterized digital slide images and cases, which will include the Juan Rosai Collection of Surgical Pathology Seminars. This furthers another mission of Aperio to make quality educational and reference materials more readily available to all pathologists around the world. The eSlide Repository™ will be a fulcrum for the healthcare and life sciences industries’ focus on personalized medicine and enhanced precision and predictability.

“Dell is excited to work with Aperio to facilitate the archiving and sharing of whole slide pathology images via the cloud,” said James Coffin, Ph.D., vice president and general manager of Dell Healthcare and Life Sciences. “This is a prime example of how on-premise and cloud-based solutions with application-neutral data management capabilities can break down traditional information silos and allow healthcare organizations to securely manage, store and share data to advance patient care.”

About Aperio

For over a decade, Aperio has advanced the technology that enables glass slides to be digitized and securely shared with others. Aperio products are transforming the practice of pathology in hospitals, reference labs and pharmaceutical and research institutions around the world. From the moment glass slides are elevated to eSlides, Aperio ePathology Solutions equip pathologists with the power to evaluate, engage and excel like never before. The NETWORK enables remote, simultaneous, real-time viewing and easy distribution for consults and collaboration. PRECISION tools empower pathologists with advanced analytic capabilities. An interoperable, scalable and secure web-based software platform facilitates integration with existing systems. With Aperio ePathology Solutions, organizations can optimize their pathology operations for transparency, consistency and efficiency to support patient care, personalized medicine and research. For clearance updates, specific product indications, and more information please visit http://www.aperio.com .

SOURCE: Aperio

Parascript, LLC, an image analysis and pattern recognition technology provider, announced that its AccuDetect® Galileo computer-aided detection software for digital mammography showed better overall performance in detecting breast cancer in a recent retrospective study against iCad's SecondLook. Findings from the study, performed at Maastricht University Medical Center departments of Radiology and Surgery in the Netherlands, with collaboration from University of Udine's Institute of Diagnostic Radiology in Italy, were presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Radiology, ECR, on March 3.

In the study, digital mammograms of 326 patients were analyzed (117 patients with biopsy proven breast cancer, 209 negative cases) using AccuDetect Galileo 4.0 and SecondLook version 7.2. AccuDetect Galileo significantly increased true positive fraction (TPF) of cancer cases when compared to SecondLook. It demonstrated a per image increase of 6.9% to 72.2%; per case increase of 4.3% to 84.6%. The University of Maastricht team noted that AccuDetect Galileo had a significant performance improvement in detecting soft tissue densities on extremely dense breasts (BI-RADS breast density class 4) over SecondLook, increasing TPF by15.4% to 69.2%. Dense breast tissue can obscure an underlying cancer, or conversely mimic one that does not exist, thus making accurate detection difficult.

"We are encouraged by the results of this new study," said Yuri Prizemin, director of business development for medical imaging for Parascript. "We believe that Parascript CAD advancements in marking malignant lesions on extremely dense breasts will help radiologists to improve breast cancer detection."

Full findings from the study were presented by the study authors M. Lobbes, K. Keymeulen, M. Smidt, R.G. Beets-Tan, J.E. Wildberger, and C. Boetes from Maastricht University and R. Girometti and C. Zuiani from University of Udine in Retrospective Comparison of the Accuracy of Two Different Computer-aided Detection Systems for Detecting Malignant Lesions on Mammography.

About Parascript, LLC
The Parascript image analysis suite extracts meaningful information from images. Employing patented digital image analysis and pattern recognition technologies, the Parascript image analysis suite improves decision quality in medical imaging, postal and payment automation, fraud detection and forms processing operations. Parascript software processes billions of documents per year. Fortune 500 companies, postal operators, major government and financial institutions rely on Parascript products. Organizations include the U.S. Postal Service, Bell + Howell, Fiserv, Elsag, Lockheed Martin, NCR, Siemens and Burroughs.

Great time had by all.  Many thanks to EW for the tickets.  Beautiful new jetBlue Park. 

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More news during week of USCAP:

Falls Church, VA – March 19, 2012 – Apollo, the leading provider of collaborative clinical multimedia management solutions for the healthcare industry, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with ViewsIQ to interface Panoptiq™, an innovative slide imaging technology, with Apollo’s Enterprise Patient Media Manager (Apollo EPMM®). 

Apollo EPMM brings together all clinical media related to an individual patient from throughout the medical enterprise and makes it immediately and easily available to authorized personnel.  This gives healthcare professionals the ability to securely collaborate while using their own best practices. The result is a more integrated clinical team, a dramatic increase in workflow efficiency and effectiveness, and improved patient outcomes at a lower cost.

For laboratory applications, Apollo's solution automatically collects media such as digital slides, gross images, cytology and other imaging modalities from the original source.  Cross-referenced with pictures, videos and other media from multiple specialties throughout the enterprise, pathologists and clinicians get a complete picture of the patient on demand, in a secure, compliant form that enables real-time consults.

ViewsIQ Panoptiq enables pathologists to create panoramic images of their slides in real-time at extremely high resolution with their own microscopes. Trialed by top pathologists at premier healthcare institutions in Canada, Panoptiq integrates seamlessly with the workflow of the pathologist. With Panoptiq, pathologists can see and communicate the microscopic view of the slide more effectively and conveniently.

 “The interfacing of Panoptiq with Apollo EPMM will dramatically enhance the clinical image integration and management capabilities for pathologists and laboratory users,” said Mark Newburger, Apollo CEO, “as well as enabling healthcare providers across the enterprise to access these images immediately.”

“The ability for healthcare providers to access Panoptiq images securely from any location adds significant value to patient care.” said Herman Lo, CEO of ViewsIQ. “With the inclusion of Panoptiq in the total Apollo EPMM solution, we can now offer a robust and comprehensive management, access and storage solution for Panoptiq slide images.” 

About Apollo

Apollo EPMM is an enterprise-wide solution that enables all authorized providers in the healthcare chain to collaborate for the benefit of the patient.  Apollo's EPMM uses the providers’ own best practices by incorporating systems already in place and adds the ability to consult in real-time with the entire clinical team in a cost- effective, flexible, compliant and secure environment.   While others promise easy, secure, specialty-specific access throughout the enterprise, Apollo delivers it today at marquis institutions throughout the United States and Canada.  For more information visit http://www.apollopacs.com and follow us on Twitter. Visit Apollo at USCAP Booth #317.

About ViewsIQ

 ViewsIQ is a Canadian healthcare technology company that develops microscopy imaging solutions for academic institutions and clinical laboratories. Its recent innovation called Panoptiq enables pathologists to create and view panoramic images of their slides in real-time with no delay to their workflow. Healthcare and academic institutions in North America are adopting Panoptiq at a growing pace. For more information please visit our website at http://www.viewsiq.ca, and follow us on Twitter and YouTube.  Visit ViewsIQ at USCAP Booth #814.

Munich, Germany, March 19, 2012 / B3C newswire / Definiens®, the leading provider of image analysis and data mining solutions for quantitative digital pathology, today announced it will expand its already comprehensive product portfolio with additional stereological analysis methods. Stereology can be incorporated into both manual and automated whole slide image analysis workflows. Find more under http://info.definiens.com/stereology.html.

Stereology complements the unique combination of flexibility and ease-of-use that makes Definiens Tissue Studio^® the leading solution for analyzing histological samples. With the latest release of Definiens Tissue Studio 3.5, systematic random sampling is now available out of the box.

High productivity through end-to-end automation is achieved by combining stereological methods with Definiens’ automated and precision detection of structure and morphology in heterogeneous tissue. This significantly reduces user interaction and analysis time and delivers unbiased and detailed readouts at the same time. Alternatively, semi-automatic or manual stereology workflows can be applied wherever appropriate.

For three dimensional measurements, Definiens also offers automated co-registration of serial tissue sections. Definiens stereology solutions are compatible with all major slide image file formats on the market and work with both bright field and fluorescence image data.

“Stereological methods are a long established approach to obtaining quantitative data about three-dimensional features from two dimensional tissue sections,” says Thomas Heydler, CEO, Definiens. “Definiens’ offerings in image and data analysis provide biomedical professionals with tools to significantly accelerate workflows and retrieve unparalleled insights from tissue samples.”

Visit Definiens at the USCAP’s industry exhibition, booth number 807, Vancouver, Canada, from March 17—23, 2012.

Link to the press release

DigiPath, Inc®, a provider of affordable, innovative and reliable digital pathology solutions, announced today that it has added 10 innovative upgrade options to PathScope™, the $24,999 single slide scanning system.

PathScope™ can be configured with 1, 2, 4, or 30 slide capacities.   The capacity configurations range from $24,999 to $54,999.

Users can configure the three objective slots with a 2x, 2.5x, 5x, 10x, 20x, 40x, and 63x dry lens.  The dry objective configurations range from $24,999 to $39,999.

PathScope™ can also support 50x or 100x oil lens.  These oil scanning solutions are priced at $39,999 to $49,999.

“DigiPath continues its innovation by adding greater capacity and dry and oil objective lens solutions,” said Eric Stoppenhagen, President of DigiPath, Inc. “DigiPath also continues to show that customers can adopt digital pathology solutions from $24,999 to $54,999, which is the most affordable offering in the marketplace.”

About DigiPath, Inc.

DigiPath, Inc. provides the next generation of affordable, innovative, and reliable digital pathology solutions.  DigiPath’s advisors bring over 60 years combined expertise in pioneering digital pathology, implementing over 500 installations at community pathology practices, hospitals, academic medical centers, reference laboratories, biopharma organizations, and life science research institutions worldwide.

The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) and the Association of Directors of Anatomic and Surgical Pathology (ADASP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) effective March 15 for ASCP to manage the day-to-day activities of ADASP, so its leaders can conduct business more efficiently. Previously, ADASP volunteers handled both administrative and strategic functions. The MOU also fosters greater collaboration for both organizations' educational and scientific activities in support of anatomic pathology and the broader pathology community.

"Our partnership with ASCP creates new opportunities for our members to be fully engaged and focused on strategic planning," said ADASP President Jeffrey L. Myers, MD, FASCP, A. James French Professor and Director of Divisions of Anatomic Pathology and Medical Laboratories, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. "The MOU creates the capacity for our organization to think and do big things. We found a great partner in ASCP."

This post is courtesy of The Pathology Blawg, formerly The Pathology Malpractice Blog.  In addition to discussing medicolegal issues in the world of pathology, The Pathology Blawg also provides material about physician self referral, markups, client billing, pod labs and other unscrupulous maneuvers that negatively impact patient care, contribute to overutilization and damage the profession of pathology, with the hope that greater awareness will bring an end to these practices.

CUA would only speak through their attorney (which is never a good sign), who said,

CUA's doctors are well-respected physicians of the highest integrity," said Howard R. Rubin, the attorney. "They reject any insinuation by you or Prof. Mitchell that any recommendations relating to a patient's care are motivated by anything other than the best interests of the patient.

Which leads me to my question.  If this level of referral (43%) for IMRT is the referral rate the group has decided is in the best interests of their patients, then why did so many patients not get referred for IMRT prior to the group's purchase of the machine?  Why did they not take more of their patient's best interests into account before they owned the machine?

It's all smoke and mirrors.  Keep in mind that urology offices also routinely own their own CT scanners and pathology labs.  They have perfected vertical integration of the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer and the commoditization of prostate cancer patients.

Maryland, as the article states, is starting to crack down heavily on self referral, and has already forced orthopedists to sell their in office MRIs.  Raise your hand if you think CUA's IMRT referral rate will drop if Maryland gets around to banning self referral for IMRT.  My hand is up.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-01-17/health/bs-bz-hancock-chesapeake-urology-20120114_1_imrt-prostate-cancer-cancer-treatments