Digital & Computational Pathology - Director of Digital Pathology, Japanese Medical Center

A director of digital pathology at a Japanese Medical Center discusses the use of digital pathology at their center, the first 100% digital pathology laboratory in Asia. The stakeholder utilizes digital pathology for remote teaching, conferences, research projects, and remote consultations. The hospital has transitioned to using digital pathology for primary diagnoses, although pathologists still have the option to use microscopes. Over 50% of physicians at the hospital use digital pathology, with virtual slides being used on a daily basis. The hospital has multiple scanners of different brands and uses a high-throughput scanner for their workflow, and they have invested more than $1 million in the infrastructure required for digital pathology. In the next five years, they plan to invest in AI and cloud solutions rather than purchasing new scanners. The implementation of digital pathology has required more effort than expected. The stakeholder also discusses the use of digital pathology and AI in the pharmaceutical industry as a whole. Most major pharma players have their own computational pathology divisions, but they are not transparent about their work. The stakeholder concludes by highlighting the growing diversity within the digital pathology community and the rapid expansion of companies and AI players in the market.