Lab Soft News had a recent reference to an article on reflux disease, Barrett's esophagus, long considered a pre-neoplastic condition and actual observed rates of carcinoma in Barrett's esophagus.  

Many GI pathologists, including myself will tell you "we see a ton of Barrett's" but few adenocarcinomas. Esophagectomies are vanishly rare. Very uncommon specimen so from my own personal experience I think these numbers are accurate.  For better or for worse this could result in fewer "screening" biopsies...

Will see if endoscopists endorse...

Double and Jumbo Slide Scanning on the Leica SCN400

Wetzlar, Germany. The largest capture area of any line scanner in digital pathology is now possible with the Leica SCN400 and SCN400 F. The latest release in Leica’s Total Digital Pathology portfolio enables the digitization of very large specimens, not possible with any other line scanning digital pathology system.

This development provides a new level of flexibility in digital pathology, enabling users to scan a wide range of samples on a single system. Traditional (26 x 76 mm), double (52 x 76 mm) and now extra-large Jumbo (113 x 76 mm) slides can all be captured in either brightfield or fluorescence using the Leica SCN400 and SCN400 F scanners.

Existing users of the Leica SCN400 digital slide scanner range can benefit from being able to implement large slide scanning, without any hardware changes or physical updates to their scanners.

To view some sample large slide scans, please visit our Virtual Slide Gallery at 

http://www.leica-microsystems.com/products/digital-pathology.

Market Press Release – November 1, 2011 2:46 am – SINGAPORE – Nov 1, 2011- GE Healthcare announced today that its Omnyx(TM) Integrated Digital Pathology solution will be the virtual microscopy system for one of two educational seminars, the inaugural Hematolymphoid Course at the Department of Pathology, Singapore General Hospital. Instead of reviewing cases using traditional optical microscopes, over 60 pathologists from throughout Asia and beyond will use GE’s all-digital pathology solution during the Hematolymphoid educational workshop to review 40 cases encompassing more than 500 digital slide images. 

Dr. Tan Soo Yong, Senior Consultant, Department of Pathology Singapore General Hospital and Hematolymphoid course Director, said, “Diagnosis in haematopathology requires examination of immunostained sections. This poses a big challenge for postgraduate medical education as it is difficult to provide sufficient material for all participants. We have been able to save money and greatly expand participation in our Hematolymphoid seminar since digital microscopy eliminates the cost of creating 9,000 physical slides and makes viewing pathology images much more accessible than a microscope could.” 

Omnyx™ VL4 Whole Slide Scanner created the 500 digital slide images used for the conference and participants will use 18 Omnyx™ Pathologist Workstations to organize and review them. 

“We are pleased to partner with Singapore General Hospital as part of our sponsorship of its inaugural Hematolymphoid & 2nd Breast Pathology Course. The benefits of integrated digital pathology extend far beyond education. The Omnyx Integrated Digital Pathology system is designed to increase access to sub-specialist care, greatly increase pathologist productivity, and reduce read-time, particularly in remote locations.” said John Chee, General Manager of GE Healthcare IT, Asia Pacific. 

Omnyx’s breakthrough technology extends beyond slide digitization and includes anenterprise software solution to enable pathology departments to improve access to pathologists regardless of where a patient or specialist is located. This results in improved turnaround times and greater collaboration among specialists. 

“The Omnyx Integrated Digital Pathology solution was designed by pathologists, for pathologists and built from the ground up with help from a global team of collaborators with the overall goal of digitizing the pathologist’s process with intuitive and efficient solutions. We are looking forward to the reaction of pathologists attending the two seminars on the Omnyx Integrated Digital Pathology solution and image quality,” said Rajiv Enand, Sr. Vice President of Business Development, Omnyx. 

Omnyx’s complete product line will include scanners, workstations, algorithms, servers, and digital archives for storage. The Omnyx Integrated Digital Pathology solution is designed to integrate what are often stand-alone products into a comprehensive platform. It combines high speed, high quality whole slide scanning with scalable information technology products to create a solution that addresses the reliability and process requirements of pathologists and enables single and multi-site organizations to benefit from increased efficiencies and greater access to peers in the field. 

By digitizing the slides and corresponding workflow, the Omnyx solution is intended to do what a traditional microscope cannot — unite an entire pathology department and improve collaboration, communication and efficiency. 

About GE 
GE (NYSE: GE) is a diversified infrastructure, finance and media company taking on the world’s toughest challenges. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, medical imaging, and television programming, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, please visit the company's website at http://www.ge.com.

About GE Healthcare 
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to servinghealthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at http://www.gehealthcare.com.

For our latest news, please visit http://newsroom.gehealthcare.com
Follow us on Twitter @GEHealthcareIT

About Omnyx
Omnyx, LLC (www.omnyx.com) is a joint venture of GE Healthcare and UPMC (the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) with locations in Pittsburgh, PA and Piscataway, NJ. The company is developing an Integrated Digital Pathology system allowing pathology departments worldwide to move to an all-digital workflow. Their products include image management, workflow automation, image analysis algorithms and system integration along with a family of high speed whole-slide scanners. Close collaboration with pathologists at UPMC and other institutions along with their relationship with GE Healthcare allows Omnyx to focus its innovation on the needs of anatomic pathologists worldwide. Omnyx products are currently in development and are for research use only. They are not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Leading LIS and digital pathology companies with collaborative effort for end-to-end LIS integration with scanning technology for workflow support.  Barriers to entry and use keep falling.

MILFORD, Mass. and VISTA, Calif., Oct. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Psyche Systems Corporation and Aperio announced today that the companies have formed a strategic relationship which will provide customers an end-to-end integrated LIS and Digital Pathology solution. The collaboration will provide seamless, bi-directional data and image sharing to support a multitude of workflows in the Pathology Laboratory.

The integration of Aperio's Spectrum(TM) Healthcare data management system and Psyche Systems' WindoPath Anatomic Pathology solution will enable single sign-on and data transfer in support of the Pathologist's workflow--improving the efficiency and quality of pathology services that laboratories are able to provide.

The companies are launching the alliance at the Pathology Visions Conference, October 30 - November 2, 2011. Attendees of the conference are welcome to visit both companies on the exhibit floor to learn more about the relationship. Psyche Systems is in booth #101; Aperio is in booth #210.

About Psyche Systems Corporation

Since 1976, Psyche Systems has delivered products that help laboratories of all sizes run more efficiently and cost-effectively. Psyche's WindoPath AP system, Clinical LIS, e.Outreach, EMR Internet Interface, MicroPath, and SBB blood bank software deliver a completely integrated solution for all areas and types of laboratories. Psyche's products are fully integrated or stand-alone and support full automation, integration with instruments, clinical and back-office systems, Outreach and Meaningful Use initiatives.

For more information, visit http://www.psychesystems.com.

About Aperio

Aperio is the leading provider of digital pathology solutions in hospitals, reference labs, and pharmaceutical and research institutions across the world. Today, our affordable and complete product portfolio improves patient care by enhancing quality assurance, delivering more efficient workflows, facilitating access to new and more targeted therapies, and improving pathologists' skills via lifelong education. Our comprehensive product line features our ScanScope® scanners, Spectrum(TM) image management (PACS) software, SecondSlide® slide sharing service for pathology, and image analysis tools and services. Aperio's products are FDA cleared for specific clinical applications, and are intended for research and education use for other applications. For clearance updates and more information please visit http://www.aperio.com.

SOURCE Psyche Systems Corporation

Introduction: The increasing availability of whole slide imaging (WSI) data sets (digital slides) from glass slides offers new opportunities for the development of computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) algorithms. With the all-digital pathology workflow that these data sets will enable in the near future, literally millions of digital slides will be generated and stored. Consequently, the field in general and pathologists, specifically, will need tools to help extract actionable information from this new and vast collective repository. Methods: To address this limitation, we designed and implemented a tool (dCORE) to enable the systematic capture of image tiles with constrained size and resolution that contain desired histopathologic features. Results: In this communication, we describe a user-friendly tool that will enable pathologists to mine digital slides archives to create image microarrays (IMAs). IMAs are to digital slides as tissue microarrays (TMAs) are to cell blocks. Thus, a single digital slide could be transformed into an array of hundreds to thousands of high quality digital images, with each containing key diagnostic morphologies and appropriate controls. Current manual digital image cut-and-paste methods that allow for the creation of a grid of images (such as an IMA) of matching resolutions are tedious. Conclusion: The ability to create IMAs representing hundreds to thousands of vetted morphologic features has numerous applications in education, proficiency testing, consensus case review, and research. Lastly, in a manner analogous to the way conventional TMA technology has significantly accelerated in situ studies of tissue specimens use of IMAs has similar potential to significantly accelerate CAD algorithm development.

Keywords: IMA, SIVQ, TMA, WSI

Jason Hipp¹, Jerome Cheng¹, Liron Pantanowitz², Stephen Hewitt³, Yukako Yagi⁴, James Monaco⁵, Anant Madabhushi⁵, Jaime Rodriguez-canales³, Jeffrey Hanson³, Sinchita Roy-Chowdhuri³, Armando C Filie³, Michael D Feldman⁶, John E Tomaszewski⁶, Natalie C Shih⁶, Victor Brodsky⁷, Giuseppe Giaccone⁸, Michael R Emmert-Buck³, Ulysses J Balis^1
1 Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, M4233A Medical Science I, 1301 Catherine, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-0602, USA
² Department of Pathology, Division of Pathology Informatics, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, UPMC Shadyside Hospital, Suite 201, 5150 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA
³ National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Laboratory of Pathology, Advanced Technology Center, 8717 Grovemont Circle, Gaithersburg, MD 20877, USA
⁴ MGH Pathology Imaging and Communication, Technology (PICT) Center, 101 Merrimac Street, Boston, MA 02114-4719, USA
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, 599 Taylor Road, Piscataway, NJ, USA
⁶ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perlman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvanaia, Division of Surgical Pathology, 6 Founders, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
⁷ Weill Cornell Medical College, 575 Lexington Avenue, # 312, New York, NY 10022, USA
⁸ National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Medical Oncology 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA

How to cite this article: Hipp J, Cheng J, Pantanowitz L, Hewitt S, Yagi Y, Monaco J, Madabhushi A, Rodriguez-canales J, Hanson J, Roy-Chowdhuri S, Filie AC, Feldman MD, Tomaszewski JE, Shih NC, Brodsky V, Giaccone G, Emmert-Buck MR, Balis UJ. Image microarrays (IMA): Digital pathology's missing tool. J Pathol Inform 2011;2:47 How to cite this URL: Hipp J, Cheng J, Pantanowitz L, Hewitt S, Yagi Y, Monaco J, Madabhushi A, Rodriguez-canales J, Hanson J, Roy-Chowdhuri S, Filie AC, Feldman MD, Tomaszewski JE, Shih NC, Brodsky V, Giaccone G, Emmert-Buck MR, Balis UJ. Image microarrays (IMA): Digital pathology's missing tool. J Pathol Inform [serial online] 2011 [cited 2011 Oct 31];2:47. Available from: http://www.jpathinformatics.org/text.asp?2011/2/1/47/86829 Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DigitalPathologyBlog

TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (Ventana), a member of the Roche Group, received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the VENTANA Companion Algorithm HER2 (4B5) for image analysis applications with associated VIRTUOSO software and iScan Coreo Au scanner. Ventana is now the only company with a complete workflow solution for determining HER2 (4B5) expression in breast cancer patients.

The application assists the pathologist in the detection and semi-quantitative measurement of HER2 (4B5) protein in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded normal and neoplastic tissue. While the pathologist is still the ultimate authority in scoring HER2 (4B5) stains, the image analysis application helps ensure consistency and objectivity in interpretation.

When used with the VENTANA PATHWAY anti-HER2 (4B5) Rabbit Monoclonal Primary Antibody, it is indicated for use as an aid in the assessment of breast cancer patients for whom HERCEPTIN (Trastuzumab) treatment is being considered. The 510(k) clearance covers all components of the workflow including the 4B5 clone, slide stainer, detection systems, software and scanner.

"The addition of the Companion Algorithm for HER2 (4B5) to the VENTANA portfolio of products gives pathologists an important tool for assessing HER2 (4B5) expression in breast cancer patients," said Dr. Steve Burnell, lifecycle leader for advanced workflow. "Ventana continues to lead the industry with its commitment to providing customers a complete, optimized solution – including stainers, reagents, scanners and digital pathology software applications - that provides accurate and efficient testing results."

Ventana also received FDA clearance for the digital read application that allows the pathologist to view HER2 (4B5) stained slides as images on a computer monitor with VIRTUOSO software and iScan Coreo Au scanner.

About Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. ("VMSI") (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), a member of the Roche Group, innovates and manufactures instruments and reagents that automate tissue processing and slide staining for cancer diagnostics. VENTANA solutions are used in clinical histology and drug development research laboratories worldwide. The company's "Smart Systems" – intuitive, integrated staining and workflow management platforms that optimize laboratory efficiencies to reduce errors – support diagnosis and inform treatment decisions for anatomic pathology professionals. Together with Roche, VMSI is driving personalized medicine through accelerated drug discovery and the development of "companion diagnostics" to identify the patients most likely to respond favorably to specific therapies. Visit http://www.ventana.com to learn more.

Ventana products are for in vitro diagnostic use for specific applications, and are research use only for other applications.

VENTANA, the VENTANA logo, PATHWAY, Companion Algorithm, VIRTUOSO and BenchMark are trademarks of Roche.

Very cool -- robust image analysis combined with whole slide images with per-cell classification of multiple stains.  Negates region of interest detection & multiple slides for multiple stains.

Albuquerque, New Mexico   10/29/2011 – Indica Labs, Inc. will be unveiling a groundbreaking IHC quantification package at the 2011 Pathology Visions conference being held next week in San Diego.   The software represents the first of its kind for performing highly advanced automated immunohistochemistry (IHC) quantification of whole-slide images.

The new algorithm developed in collaboration with top US pharmaceutical companies, is highly configurable and can be used for a wide range of IHC applications.  It measures positivity of individual or multiple IHC stains on a single slide and the po­sitivity for each stain is measured on a per-cell basis where each cell is identified and classified as positive for antibody A, antibody B, both A and B, or neutral.  Furthermore, the software indicates the localization of IHC positivity as either nuclear, cytoplasmic, or both.  By using this algorithm, researchers have been able to improve efficiency and accuracy by eliminating manual cell counting and subjective IHC assessment.  In addition the algorithm generates vast amounts of additional quantitative data that is otherwise unattainable by manual assessment.

Indica Labs, CEO Steven Hashagen stated:

“There are many IHC quantification tools on the market today but none of them combine the rich set of features that set apart the Indica IHC package.  By combining whole slide quantification, multi-stain analysis, per-cell scoring, and localized nuclear vs. cytoplasmic quantification, we have designed the most complete IHC package presently available.  This tool is already proving itself an asset among pharmaceutical companies where high-throughput, and highly detailed, quantitative image analysis results have become an essential part of translational research.”

The Indica Labs IHC quantification package will be showcased at the Pathology Visions conference in San Diego October 31^st until November 2^nd.  All attendees are encouraged to visit the Indica Labs booth (#319) for an in-depth product demonstration.  For more information about this product or any other products, you may also visit their website at http://indicalab.com/products.html, or contact info@indicalab.com to schedule a complementary demonstration.

About Indica Labs, Inc. 

Indica Labs provides sophisticated pathology image processing software for whole slide tissue analysis.  Indica Labs' software tools seamlessly integrate into leading digital pathology platforms to provide reproducible and highly quantitative data to pathologists in hospitals, academic medical centers, government research institutions, global pharmaceutical companies, and small biotech firms.  For more information, please visit http://www.indicalab.com.  Indica Labs products are intended for research use only.

Contact

Indica Labs, Inc. info@indicalab.com

Pittsburgh, PA - 10/27/2011 -- GE announced today shipment of the Omnyx™ VL4 scanner to beta customers worldwide. To date, six Omnyx VL4 scanners have been shipped and are in operation for testing purposes and this marks a significant milestone in Omnyx's efforts to deliver a leading Integrated Digital Pathology solution. The Omnyx solution will be demonstrated at the upcoming Pathology Visions conference in San Diego.

The Omnyx VL4 scanner was created through the joint venture of UPMC and GE Healthcare. It is designed to resolve the tradeoff between speed and image quality through its patented two camera technology. All scanning operations, including tissue detection and focus, are automated to minimize labor. It is tightly integrated to an enterprise software solution that enables high-speed digital viewing over standard networks and provides a complete digital workflow for research use for both the pathologist and histology personnel.

George Michalopoulos, M.D., Chair of Pathology at UPMC, comments:

"The recent shipment of the VL4 scanner to UPMC allows us to further test the Omnyx technology and make progress toward digitizing our department. Whether you look at the software system or the scanning instruments, the Omnyx team has delivered an integrated product that will help advance pathology."

Feedback from the various beta testing sites is instrumental in preparing the products for commercial availability.

Dr. Sylvia Asa, Chair of Pathology at University Health Network said:

"I have been impressed with the image quality of the VL4and I have high expectations for the Omnyx product. The Omnyx images are the best I have seen.   In addition, there were several instances when I favored the Omnyx digital image on the monitor over the glass slide in the microscope."

So far, University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto Canada has scanned and reviewed over 2,000 slides as part of its testing activities. They started with 5 pathologists, and within 7 weeks had 22 pathologists from 9 specialty areas testing the system. This demonstrates its intuitive ease of use and is a result of the system having been designed by pathologists, for pathologists. Dr. Andrew Evans will discuss UHN's preliminary experience with the Omnyx Integrated Digital Pathology solution and the VL4 scanner at the upcoming Pathology Visions tradeshow in San Diego.

Gene Cartwright, CEO of the Omnyx joint venture comments:

"We are grateful and thankful for the support we are receiving from our beta sites. Great customers help us make a better product. There is no better way of making sure we have it right than working hand-in-hand with our customers. We expect the field of digital pathology will advance very quickly once a complete solution is made available.   The shipment of the Omnyx VL4 scanner is a very important milestone toward that goal."

The Omnyx Integrated Digital Pathology solution is designed to integrate into a comprehensive platform what are often stand alone products.  It combines high speed, high quality whole slide scanning with scalable information technology products to create a solution that addresses the reliability and process requirements of pathologists and enables single and multi-site organizations to benefit from increased efficiencies and greater access to peers in the field.  The Omnyx products are for research use only and not for diagnostic use.

The Omnyx product line will include scanners, workstations, algorithms, servers, and digital archives for storage.

By digitizing the slides and corresponding workflow, the Omnyx solution is intended to do what a traditional microscope cannot, and improve collaboration, communication and efficiency.

ABOUT OMNYX

Omnyx, LLC http://www.omnyx.com is a joint venture of GE Healthcare and UPMC (the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) with locations in Pittsburgh, PA and Piscataway, NJ. The company is developing an Integrated Digital Pathology system to allow pathology departments worldwide to move to an all-digital workflow.   Their products include a family of high speed whole-slide scanners and an enterprise software product enabling image management, workflow automation, image analysis algorithms and system integration.   Close collaboration with pathologists at UPMC and other institutions along with their relationship with GE Healthcare allows Omnyx to focus its innovation on the needs of anatomic pathologists worldwide. Omnyx products are currently in development and are for research use only. They are not for use in diagnostic procedures.

ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE:

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our "healthymagination" vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at http://www.gehealthcare.com.

Looking forward to all the new launches and releases at Visions. Here is one from Leica Microsystems from selectscience.net.

Leica Microsystems has announced that it is to launch its clinical workflow solution for Digital Pathology at Pathology Visions 2011. The Digital Image Hub Enterprise* with powerful image management, integration and communication capabilities, combined with the intuitive client viewer, SlidePath Gateway*, creates the ideal solution for clinical centers looking to implement Digital Pathology.
 
Furthermore, Leica’s Total Digital Pathology solutions now provide an implementation of the DICOM Supplement 145 standard for both slide scanning and viewing.

The system incorporates compre¬hensive and flexible communica¬tion specifications which enable the seamless integration of Digital Pathology with world-leading anatomical pathology LIS providers, such as Cerner CoPath PlusTM and Sunquest (formerly Elekta) PowerPath, as well as additional 3rd party and bespoke systems via the inbuilt flexible Integration Toolkit.

The user-friendly interface and flexible reporting tools in SlidePath Gateway Client enable anatomical pathologists to follow the cases from slide scanning right through to reporting.

For access on the move, pathologists can view their digital slides through multiple modalities including Internet Browsers and iPad, giving anytime, anywhere access to cases for rapid second opinion or frozen section review. Access to real time conferencing capability allows users to consult on cases with their peers on demand. Technical controls, to help facilitate HIPAA compliance, enable users and system administrators to be assured of the security and integrity of clinical data.

Dr. Donal O’Shea, Head of Digital Pathology in Leica Microsystems says, “This is a big step for Leica Microsystems in building out our Digital Pathology technology portfolio. Providing an Enterprise level infrastructure for Digital Pathology that facilitates the delivery of an ergonomic, high performance, easy to use, clinical case management workflow was central to our product development strategy. This is optimally engineered to allow users to leverage Digital Pathology where it delivers real ROI in the clini¬cal setting. We will continue to innovate aggressively across our technology portfolio to ensure a best in class position in Digital Pathology in clinical, research and educational areas.”

Leica Microsystems are exclusive platinum sponsors of Pathology Visions 2011, October 30 – November 2, San Diego, CA. Visit Leica at booth 302 – 304 to see our complete case management solutions for Digital Pathology.

Company website

Clinical Multimedia Solutions Provider Enhances Product Interoperability

Falls Church, Va. – Oct. 25 2011 – Karos Health, a leader in standards-based clinical information exchange and storage solutions, announced recently that Apollo, a leading provider of clinical multimedia content management solutions, has signed a licensing agreement for Rialto, Karos' platform for clinical information exchange and storage.

Apollo will integrate Rialto into its Enterprise Patient Media Manager (Apollo EPMM) to advance interoperability and support for IHE Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing (XDS.b) and IHE Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing for Imaging (XDS-I.b) Integration Profiles. Apollo EPMM is an enterprise solution that transforms distributed patient clinical multimedia into one unified record. Rialto's industry-leading interoperability will extend Apollo EPMM, ensuring that all patient clinical data is indexed and stored using IHE XDS while providing secure patient-centric access by any IHE-compliant third party products.
"Licensing the Rialto platform to enable IHE interoperability will enable Apollo EPMM customers to more easily share clinical multimedia and imaging among institutions and caregivers – ultimately leading to better quality of care for patients," says Mark Newburger, CEO, Apollo. "The adoption of a standards-based model for communication across enterprises is vital and IHE is on its way to becoming more accepted within the healthcare industry," he added.

Karos' interoperability leadership combined with Rialto's comprehensive support for the IHE Integration Profiles and support for the most current implementation of industry standards DICOM and HL7 created a compelling solution for Apollo.

"Apollo and Karos share a vision for enabling appropriate access to all patient clinical information to healthcare enterprises and providers, which naturally includes clinical multimedia," says Rick Stroobosscher, President, Karos Health. "We are excited to partner with Apollo to bring added value and ease of use to their customers."

About Apollo Apollo, a healthcare IT software developer founded in 2006, provides a market-proven application that enables clinicians and healthcare institutions to capture, manage, access, and share clinical multimedia content across a diverse array of medical specialties not currently addressed by today's radiology PACS solutions.
Apollo's open-system solutions provide secure access and management of all clinical multimedia content within the healthcare delivery system, network or institution as part of the Electronic Health Record. Apollo solutions are assisting clinicians in the delivery of quality healthcare services to patients at leading academic centers, regional medical networks, commercial laboratories, and community hospitals throughout the US and Canada. For more information, visit http://www.apollopacs.com.

About Karos Health Karos Health is focused on elevating the quality of patient care by enabling the sharing and storing of clinical information. Karos' Rialto platform empowers healthcare enterprises to enable cross community access to information, facilitating collaboration between healthcare providers and patients. Rialto is based on open standards that ensure safe and secure handling of patient health information and is backed by a team with decades of experience in healthcare interoperability. For more information, visit http://www.karoshealth.com.

Collaboration with GE Healthcare company offers AQUA technology clinical research services in a CLIA environment

Branford, Connecticut – October 24, 2011 – Clarient, a GE Healthcare company, and HistoRx® , Inc.,  have signed a definitive agreement to provide pharma services using AQUA® technology to their growing lists of pharma clients.  By implementing HistoRx’s AQUA technology in Clarient’s CLIA laboratory, the two companies will apply their complementary capabilities to serve pharma companies’ growing need for biomarker analysis in clinical trials.  Use of tissue biomarkers to characterize a patient’s tumor is becoming a crucial element of personalized cancer care.  AQUA technology is an automated, quantitative IHC testing method that enables standardized precision measurement of protein biomarkers in tissue as an aid to a pathologist’s diagnosis.

“HistoRx has helped numerous pharma clients with key development-phase decisions in the preclinical and translational medicine areas, harnessing the power of protein biomarkers to advance drug development,” said Dick Carroll, Ph.D., Vice President of Clinical Research. “Now that AQUA technology is sought by drug developers for clinical trial support, raising the prospect of launching companion diagnostics based on these studies, expanding the network to include a commercial lab like Clarient gives more choices to study sponsors.”

AQUA technology is increasingly used for high-precision evaluation of tissue biomarkers to formulate and test clinical hypotheses, particularly those centered on providing robust patient selection criteria for a given therapeutic in clinical trials.  The HistoRx Clinical Trials Network (HCTN) was initiated in response to significant interest from clinical research sponsors to have AQUA technology services available in a CLIA lab setting; HCTN members are the only sites approved and certified to perform AQUA analysis supporting clinical trials.  For the past five years pharmaceutical companies and oncology cooperative groups, and the researchers and clinicians involved in drug discovery, preclinical research and clinical development at those institutions, have used HistoRx Pharma Services to generate crucial information about their drug candidates, the metabolic pathways they affect, and the patient subgroups most likely to benefit from them.  The insights generated through AQUA technology and HistoRx Pharma Services  provide compelling results with clear value in clinical programs, enabling pharmaceutical and biotech companies to use them for prospective analysis of patients in late-stage trials.  The HCTN, though centered on AQUA technology, has expanded its menu of offerings to include additional analysis technologies for use in clinical trials.

About HistoRx, Inc.
HistoRx, Inc. is a leading developer of tissue-based diagnostic solutions to advance individualized patient care and is the leader in quantitative immunohistochemistry.  The company’s products and services are based on proprietary analysis of tissue biomarkers using AQUA technology.  AQUA technology is the only platform capable of precisely measuring protein biomarker concentration with sub-cellular resolution in tissue sections, enabling fully objective, standardized, reproducible, and automated analysis to guide drug development and therapeutic decision-making.  HistoRx is commercializing a pipeline of proprietary diagnostic products targeting improved treatment decision making and patient outcomes in cancer care.  For more information, please visit http://www.historx.com.

This year for the first time the Pathology Visions conference will offer CME for physicians attending the meeting or those who are not at the meeting but can attend webcasts for up to 3 CME credits.

If you aren’t able to attend this year’s Pathology Visions Conference, but still want to earn Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits, here’s your chance! Next Monday and Wednesday, Pathology Visions is offering live Webcasts of two important conference presentations that give online participants the opportunity to earn up to three CME credits.

Register now online or complete the registration form.

Participate in the Pathology Visions Conference remotely and earn CME credits by watching live Webcasts from our keynote presenter, Dr. Mahul B. Amin and the Regulatory Panel discussion.

Mahul B. Amin, MD
Personalized Medicine: Empowering Light Microscopy and the Pathologist
Monday, October 31 | 9:30 am
Register for Dr. Amin’s presentation

Dr. Amin will examine the contributions, strengths and limitations of light microscopy, review the traditional role of the pathologist in contemporary healthcare, and outline “personalized medicine” as it relates to the discipline of pathology.

Disclosure:

Dr. Amin does not have any relevant financial relationships with any commercial interests.

Designation Statement:
The ISMA designates this live streaming educational activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Cost:
$50 – DPA Members
$100 – Non-members

Regulatory Panel
Navigating Digital Pathology’s Path to Patients   
Wednesday, November 2 | 12 - 2 pm
Register for the Regulatory Panel discussion

This session will feature a panel of experts who will lend new insights into the evolving regulatory process for digital pathology products. The panelists will present and discuss the roles and current thinking of FDA, CAP, and CMS regarding the evaluation and adoption of digital pathology in its many forms and applications. The regulatory panel session will led by Dr. Stephen Hewitt, NCI and member of the 2009 FDA Hematology and Pathology Devices Advisory Panel on Digital Pathology.  He will be joined by Tremel Faison, MS, RAC, SCT (ASCP) representing the FDA Office of In Vitro Diagnostic Device Evaluation and Safety; Walter Henricks, M.D., Cleveland Clinic, representing the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program and the CAP Quality Center Work Group on whole slide imaging systems; and Debra Sydnor representing the CMS Division of Laboratory Services (overseeing CLIA).

Designation Statement:

The ISMA designates this live streaming educational activity for a maximum of 2.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity

Disclosure:

To adhere to the ACCME/ISMA CME Standards for Commercial Support the following presenters have no financial relationships.

Stephen Hewitt, MD
Tremel Faison, MS,RAC,SCT (ASCP)
Walter Henricks, MD
Debra Sydnor, CT (ASCP) IAC

Cost:
$100 – DPA Members
$200 – Non-members

Accreditation Statement
Pathology Visions has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of the Indiana State Medical Association (ISMA) and the Digital Pathology Association. The ISMA is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Abundant opportunity to in-source pathology services from overseas illustrated by this story.  Also speaks to why I think outsourcing not a threat -- pathologist capacity and the main reason in-sourcing from countries such as China may represent a significant opportunity for U.S. pathologists.

See entire story from The Dark Daily: Anatomic Pathology in China Is a Booming Growth Industry

Shortage of pathologists only adds to the challenges of providing high quality anatomic pathology testing services
DATELINE: Hangzhou, China—More than 1,200 Chinese pathologists and medical laboratory scientists assembled this weekend in a city marked by 1,500 years of history. The occasion was the first-ever combined meeting of the Chinese Society of Pathology and the Pathology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association.
Across the globe, pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals regularly hear about the rapid economic growth in China. This country is modernizing at an astounding rate and the evidence is easy to see in its major cities. That is certainly true here in Hanghzou, which has a population of 8.7 million people and is the anchor city for Zhejiang Province, with a population of approximately 54.4 million. It has many new buildings in its downtown and construction cranes are visible in every direction.

See entire story from The Dark Daily: Anatomic Pathology in China Is a Booming Growth Industry