New Articles Published in Journal of Pathology Informatics

 

Telecytology: Clinical applications, current challenges, and future benefits
Michael Thrall, Liron Pantanowitz, Walid Khalbuss
J Pathol Inform 2011, 2:51 (26 December 2011)
[ABSTRACT]   [HTML FULL TEXT]   [PDF]   [Mobile HTML Full text ]   [EPub]

 

An open-source software program for performing Bonferroni and related corrections for multiple comparisons
Kyle Lesack, Christopher Naugler
J Pathol Inform 2011, 2:52 (26 December 2011)
[ABSTRACT]   [HTML FULL TEXT]   [PDF]   [Mobile HTML Full text ]   [EPub]

 

Heterogeneity of publicly accessible online critical values for therapeutic drugs
Colt M McClain, Richard Owings, Joshua A Bornhorst
J Pathol Inform 2011, 2:53 (26 December 2011)
[ABSTRACT]   [HTML FULL TEXT]   [PDF]   [Mobile HTML Full text ]   [EPub]
Source (click image to go to full journal):
Jpicover

 

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Health Discovery Corporation Enters into Worldwide Licensing Agreement with NeoGenomics

BusinessWire · Jan. 9, 2012

Health Discovery Corporation (OTCBB: HDVY), a molecular diagnostics leader in the use of patent protected advanced mathematical techniques for personalized medicine, has entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with NeoGenomics, Inc. (OTCBB: NGNM) for laboratory developed tests (LDT’s) in the Field of hematopoietic and solid tumor cancers excluding breast cancer, which was previously licensed to Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) and Smart Personalized Medicine and excluding cancer of the retina which was previously committed to Retinalyze, LLC. HDC retains all rights to in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) test kit development in cancer. In addition, HDC’s pre-existing licenses remain in effect.

Under the terms of the Agreement, NeoGenomics paid $1 million in cash and issued 1,360,000 (one million three hundred and sixty thousand) shares of NeoGenomics common stock to HDC in upfront licensing fees. In addition, NeoGenomics will make milestone payments, in cash or stock, based on sublicensing revenue and revenue generated from products and services developed as a result of the Agreement. Milestone payments will be in increments of $500,000 for every $2 million in revenue recognized by NeoGenomics up to a total of $5 million in total milestone payments. After $20 million in cumulative revenue has been recognized, NeoGenomics will pay a royalty of 6.5% on product sales and will share profits from sub-licensing arrangements. In addition, NeoGenomics will pay a royalty of 50% of the revenue recognized from any sub-licensing arrangements for the Cytogenetics Interpretation System and the Flow Cytometry System.

NeoGenomics, Inc. is a high-complexity CLIA–certified clinical laboratory that specializes in cancer genetics diagnostic testing, the fastest growing segment of the laboratory industry. The company’s testing services include cytogenetics, fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH), flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, morphology studies, anatomic pathology and molecular genetic testing. Headquartered in Fort Myers, FL, NeoGenomics has labs in Nashville, TN, Irvine, CA, Tampa, FL, and Fort Myers, FL. NeoGenomics services the needs of pathologists, oncologists, urologists and other clinicians, and hospitals throughout the United States.

“This License Agreement with NeoGenomics with their high complexity CLIA certified clinical laboratory represents a tremendous opportunity to complete the LDT development and commercialization of HDC’s cancer related products including tests for prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, and colon cancer, as well as, the cytogenetics and flow cytometry interpretation software,” stated Stephen D. Barnhill, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Health Discovery Corporation. Dr. Barnhill added, “As a requirement of this Licensing Agreement, we are very excited that Dr. Maher Albitar will be the Chief Medical Officer and Director of Research and Development at NeoGenomics and will personally direct the final development and commercialization of these cancer products at NeoGenomics.”

Dr. Barnhill continued, “Under the terms of the License Agreement, NeoGenomics has agreed to use its best efforts to complete the development of these tests and have a first commercial use of products in the next 12 months, subject to extensions if required.”

Herbert A. Fritsche, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer at Health Discovery Corporation and recently retired Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Chief of the Clinical Chemistry Section at The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, stated, “Now that we have our cancer products poised for final development and commercialization in the NeoGenomics CLIA certified clinical laboratory under the direction of Dr. Maher Albitar, we can now focus our attention to finalization and commercialization of our Retinalyze product for macular degeneration, as well as, move into product development for non-cancer diseases such as Alzheimer’s, dementias, cardiac diseases and others. We will also be moving forward on using our SVM pattern recognition tools for radiologic interpretation techniques.”

About Health Discovery Corporation

Health Discovery Corporation is a molecular diagnostics company that uses advanced mathematical techniques to analyze large amounts of data to uncover patterns that might otherwise be undetectable. It operates primarily in the emerging field of personalized medicine where such tools are critical to scientific discovery. Its primary business consists of licensing its intellectual property and developing its own product line of biomarker-based diagnostic tests that include human genes and genetic variations, as well as gene, protein, and metabolic expression differences and image analysis in digital pathology and radiology. For more information, see http://www.healthdiscoverycorp.com.

Source: financialpost.com

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Register Now for Early Bird Rates for APF Spring Conference

For online conference registration visit:

American Pathology Foundation's 

 2012 Spring Conference   

"Charting a New Course for Pathology; 

Navigation and Leadership In Turbulent Times" 

 February 29 - March 2, 2012, Marriott Marquis, San Diego

 

ONE MONTH REMAINING FOR
EARLY REGISTRATION RATES! 
 

Make plans to join the American Pathology Foundation in San Diego for our 2012Spring Conference.  Attendees can look forward to three days of information-rich sessions on best practices in the business of pathology and plenty of practical "take home" ideas for better managing their time, practice and resources.
The APF Program Committee has worked to  select timely topics and knowledgeable speakers to help you address critical practice management issues.  Half-day program blocks will focus on regulatory and legal issues, fiscal tools and tactics to position your practice for the future, improving your leadership and management skills, as well as personalized medicine and emerging pathology / laboratory technology. APF National Conferences provide ample opportunities for you to network, share experiences and craft solutions with your colleagues.

 

For online conference registration visit:

 

You may also register over the phone

by calling the APF National Office toll-free at:

877-993-9935, ext 202 

 

A complete conference brochure and registration form

 can be downloaded by clicking on the image below:   

APF 2012 Spring Conference

  

2012 Spring Conference Events Include:

 

            Medical Coding"2012 Practical Pathology Coding Pre-Conference"

Wednesday, February 29  - SPACE IS LIMITED! -

Participants in the 2012 "Practical Coding" Pre-Conference will gain a thorough understanding of the CPT, ICD9 and ICD10 coding issues specific to pathology.  Dennis Padget, MBA, CPA, FHFMA is the primary presenter for this full-day course which will cover common coding dilemmas, present strategies to implement change and maximize reimbursement. The pre-conference will also cover critical aspects of coding for molecular and special tests and a primer on confronting and correcting claims denials.  
 
 Hot Topics Breakfast Roundtable Sessions
Friday, March 2
breakfast
Get your day off to a great start with a full breakfast and a chance to discuss hot topics of the day with Spring Conference faculty and your colleagues.   Due to thepopularity of these sessions, additional  discussion groupshave been added for this year.  Topics will include:  Legal Issues,  Pathology Billing, Voice Recognition Technology, Lab Inspection and Mergers and Acquisitions.
     
              Exhibitor Showcase: February 29 - March 2, featuring:
                      APS Medical Billing                      NovoPath             
                     ARUP Laboratories                Orchard Software
                              ASCP                                  PathCentral  
                               APC                                  Pathology Inc. 
                           BilAmerica                              PhenoPath
                            CBLPath                                  PIMS, Inc.
                             Clarient                                      PSA
                              Cortex                               Sakura Finetek
                             Kellison                                     Telcor
                             LigoLab                                   Ventana
                           McKesson                               Voicebrook
                                                NeoGenomics
 
      Exhibit Hall Networking past, present, future Lunch  
Join us for special events planned each day; including our signature wine tasting at Wednesday's Welcome Reception, Thursday's "Treasure Island" Reception, and the Foundation's 6th Annual Russell J. Eilers Fund Silent Auction
benefiting pathology resident education.
  
APF logoSan Diego Marriott    
  We Look forward to Seeing YOU 

                   in San Diego 

 at the APF 2012 Spring Conference!

      

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Michael-Parenti-January-6-2012-Democracy and the Pathology of Wealth – Video

09-01-2012 00:17 lapena.org presents social critic and noted author Michael Parenti speaking about Democracy and the Pathology of Wealth. Parenti will be discussing developments in the US political scene, the occupy movement and the struggle against corporate capitalism.

See the original post:
Michael-Parenti-January-6-2012-Democracy and the Pathology of Wealth - Video

DigiPath Announces PathGuarantee Protection

DigiPath®, Inc, provider of affordable, innovative, and reliable digital pathology solutions yesterday announced its PathGuarantee™.

According to DigiPath, their PathGuarantee is the "digital pathology industry’s first Money Back Guarentee program".

Perhaps DigiPath offering these terms and conditions will allow interested folks to test the waters for themselves and lower the potential fiscal barrier to adoption.  It has been my experience that short, low or no-cost, no obligation type trials for scanning devices are hard to come by and not offered widely.  I think if more companies did so to allow potential clients to "test drive" the device and software for an agreed period of time, sales could potentially increase.  After all the due diligence a group, hospital, laboratory or research/pharmaceutical organization may go through to select a platform it could help make the decision which platform to go with after seeing for themselves any potential issues with recan rate, quality or speed and see if the manufacturer's claims are accurate.  

Of course this involves some investment by the manufacturers and most test drives don't last more than 10 or 12 miles unless you need to take it home to see if it fits in the garage but it appears DigiPath is willing to make that investment and allow clients to see for the themselves if their device fits their clients needs.

PathGuarantee is available for free to clients who place orders by February 15, 2012.

“DigiPath is committed to our client’s total satisfaction,” stated Eric Stoppenhagen, President of DigiPath, “We created PathGuarantee to eliminate financial risks associated with adopting digital pathology with DigiPath’s PathScope, the $25,000 slide scanning solution.”

PathGuarantee applies during the DigiPath 14 day acceptance period. During this time, clients will evaluate PathScope’s the image quality, scan time, and rescan rate. If the client is satisfied with the DigiPath solution, the client will pay the remaining balance on associated purchase order. If the client is not satisfied, the DigiPath solution will be returned, and all deposit funds will be returned. PathGuarantee™ is available for free to clients who place orders by February 15, 2012.

Other terms and conditions may apply. Please see http://digipath.biz/solutions.html for further details.

About DigiPath, Inc. 
DigiPath, Inc. provides the next generation of affordable, innovative, and reliable digital pathology solutions. The DigiPath team brings over 60 years combined expertise in pioneering digital pathology, implementing over 750 installations at community pathology practices, hospitals, academic medical centers, reference laboratories, biopharma organizations, and life science research institutions worldwide. DigiPath products are for research use only.

Source: PRWeb

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Aperio to Present at 30th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

Vista, CA – January 4, 2012 - Aperio, the global leader in digital pathology solutions that improve patient care, today announced that David Schlotterbeck, chief executive officer, will present an overview of the company’s business at the 30th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, January 11, 2012, at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. The Aperio presentation is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. (PST).

During his formal presentation, Mr. Schlotterbeck will discuss the multi-billion dollar digital pathology market and highlight Aperio’s new direction in digital pathology solutions for both healthcare and life sciences. These solutions will accelerate adoption and allow pathologists to be more effective.

David_schlotterbeckDavid Schlotterbeck is the retired chairman and chief executive officer of CareFusion, a leading medical technology company. From 2004 through 2009, he served as vice chairman of Cardinal Health and chief executive officer for their clinical and medical products business segment. He joined Cardinal Health through the acquisition of Alaris Medical Systems, where he was president and chief executive officer from 1999 through 2004. Mr. Schlotterbeck previously held executive leadership roles as president and chief operating officer of Pacific Scientific Company; president and chief executive officer of Vitalcom, Inc.; and, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Nellcor, Inc. He holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from the General Motors Institute (Kettering University) and an M.S. in electrical engineering from Purdue University.

 

Sources: http://www.businesswire.com and http://www.aperio.com

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Pathology Labs Replace Microscopes with Digital Imaging

By Labmedica International staff writers
Posted on 29 Dec 2011
 

Non-US deployment of Aperio platform with image storage on a Hitachi platform.  400,000 glass slides annually at a rate of 300 TB of storage per year.  Very cool. Look for more adoption overseas this year.  

Microscopes are being replaced with digital imaging in pathology laboratories in the southern part of Sweden.

Traditional microscope glass slides are turned into digital images, which are then analyzed by pathologists directly from the computer screen, instead of using regular microscopes.

The revolution, which has already occurred in radiology, is now taking place in pathology. The contracted delivery not only digitizes the slides but also will completely renew IT support for all workflows of the pathology laboratories in the Skåne region.

Labvantage (Somerset, NJ, USA) will deliver a USD 4 million turnkey solution for digitizing the histopathological workflows in the whole region. The system will be possibly the largest such installation in the world and among the first of its kind in northern Europe. The digital slides will reside in Hitachi’s (Tokyo, Japan) Content Platform, which employs distributed object storage. All of the images will be kept well protected and duplicated across several physical discs. This makes the traditional backing up of data unnecessary.

Currently the four pathology laboratories run by Region Skåne produce about 400,000 histological microscope slides a year. The samples are prepared into microscope slides and are then physically distributed to pathologists. Slides are then analyzed using regular microscopes. There is currently limited IT support for the workflow, making it difficult to track the status of pending cases and to identify the bottlenecks in the production workflow.

The difficulties in this method are mostly related to physical slides, which can only reside–and be analyzed–in one place at a time. With the digital pathology in place, all pathologists from all laboratories of Skåne can gain access to all cases and related slides. Together with the introduction of digital pathology, another goal of Region Skåne is to introduce so-called LEAN workflows.

The digitizing will not only ease the distribution of slides for the pathologists’ viewing but will also solve the needs for storage. Swedish law requires Region Skåne to keep all slides for a minimum of 20 years, and today this requires a lot of physical space. It is also difficult to retrieve a particular case from the archive. In the digitized format, the annual production of about 400,000 glass slides will consume 300 terabytes of storage each year.

The unique changeover both in its scope and in scale is to be supplied by Software Point. A key component in the delivery is a new workflow management system, which will manage both the preanalytical and analytical stages of the laboratory process. An adapted version of Software Point’s (Espoo, Finland) C5 LIMS will be in total charge of managing the workflows and tracking all events within. It will maintain a real-time status of each sample, slide, and case, and will ease the work of both laboratory technicians and pathologists with advanced functionalities such as integration to laboratory automation, datamatrix labeling of all objects, and speech recognition for pathologists.

"This is an important milestone for us. Our workflow-centric C5 LIMS, complemented with the best of breed systems from Aperio (Vista, CA, USA) and Hitachi, make up a solution unlike anything else on the market. We see tremendous potential in digital pathology and this is one key element in our strategy for further expanding the position of our LIMS in the healthcare marketplace," comments Andrea Holmberg, CEO of Software Point.

Related Links:

Labvantage
Software Point
Aperio

 

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Lucid, Inc. Announces Closing of Public Offering

PRESS RELEASE

Dec. 30, 2011, 12:46 p.m. EST

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Dec 30, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Lucid, Inc. LCDCU 0.00% today announced that it has closed its previously announced underwritten public offering of 1,388,000 units, with each unit consisting of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of common stock. Net proceeds received by Lucid were approximately $5.30 million, after deducting the underwriting discount and corporate finance fee, but before taking into account estimated offering expenses. The Company has granted the underwriters a 45 day option to purchase an additional 208,200 units to cover over-allotments, if any.

The Company will use the net proceeds to repay certain indebtedness and to fund its continuing operations.

Roth Capital Partners acted as the sole book-running manager for the offering and Maxim Group LLC acted as co-manager.

The securities were offered by the Company pursuant to a registration statement previously filed and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. Before investing, you should read the prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC for information about the Company and the offering. A copy of the final prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained, when available, on the SEC's web site at http://www.sec.gov under the registrant's name, "Lucid Inc." Copies of the prospectus may also be obtained from Roth Capital Partners, LLC, Equity Capital Markets, 888 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660, at 800-678-9147 and Rothecm@roth.com.

About Lucid, Inc.

Lucid, Inc. is a leader in noninvasive skin cancer imaging and diagnosis through the use of its FDA cleared VivaScope(R) confocal imagers and its innovative VivaNet(R) telepathology system that allows secure, HIPAA compliant, near real-time collaboration between dermatologists and pathologists. VivaNet(R) provides rapid online medical image transfer storage and retrieval, enabling critical collaborative consultations at the point and time of care. Lucid's VivaScopes(R) provide images that physicians can use to form critical medical decisions in cases of melanoma and other skin cancers while ensuring patient comfort and peace of mind. You can learn more about the Company and its innovative products at http://www.lucid-tech.com.

VivaScope(R) and VivaNet(R) are registered trademarks of Lucid, Inc.

 

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Welcome to Digital Pathology Blog (Russian version)

For folks who can read/speak Russian -- check out a blog about digital pathology (sound familiar minus the Russian part) over at Digital Pathology -- "The first blog about digital pathology in russian language" or "?????? ???? ? ???????? ????????? ?? ??????? ?????".  Check out Google translator, if, like me, you have forgotten most if not all of your high school Russian.

Welcome to the blogosphere!

Hematology_pic

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Autopsies and Caviar Dreams

CaviarA colleague sent this to me over the holidays. 

From the world of strange news items comes this tale of an entrepenurial funeral service owner and a morgue attendant in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Not a big fan of performing autopsies but perhaps if there was some Russian red caviar to be had as part of the work I might reconsider.

Just like a Thanksgiving dinner does not count if there is no turkey, a Russian New Year's party is not complete without caviar on the table. Even if it is a morgue party, police discovered.

More than 175 kilograms of red and black caviar were stored in a morgue of a St. Petersburg hospital, local police said on their web site Wednesday.

The caviar, which comes from endangered species, belonged to a 64-year-old entrepreneur who ran a funeral service in the building and a 42-year-old morgue attendant, the report said, without releasing their names.

The duo "stored and packed red and black caviar next to the corpses inside the morgue's pathology department," police said.

About 135 kilograms of red caviar were packed in five containers labeled "Aviation Security. Checked." Identical containers were found in a body storage room, with a paramedic saying they held "biological waste."

A police video leaked by the Lifenews.ru online tabloid showed a refrigerator stuffed with caviar next to a body in a coffin. A spoken commentary described the premises as a "farewell hall" where mourners pay tribute to the dead.

The two men said the caviar was "meant for their private use to celebrate the new year and a party for the hospital personnel," police said.

No one was charged with wrongdoing as of Wednesday because owing caviar is not a violation per se. But police have begun a check into where the caviar came from and whether its storage broke sanitary laws.

Most black caviar in Russia comes from the black market. Only 19 tons of the 244 tons sold last year were sold legally, Vedomosti reported in April.

It remained unclear whether morgue officials would face any penalties. Police said in their report that a hospital administrator failed to explain how the delicacy came to be stored next to the corpses and fled the building.

Read more:http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/police-bust-caviar-stash-in-st-pete-morgue/450652.html#ixzz1iL6HpwUK


The Moscow Times


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Visualization of the causes of a pathology growth in the thumb bones of Vagaceratops. Theory #1 – Video

05-01-2012 13:26 The fossils of the right hand (manus) of Vagaceratops showed an abnormal boney growth formation in the thumb digit - similar to a bunion in humans. Using the 3D scan walkcycle animation of Vagaceratops, we were able visualize the foot movements that enabled this pathology occur.

Read the rest here:
Visualization of the causes of a pathology growth in the thumb bones of Vagaceratops. Theory #1 - Video