Digital & Computational Pathology - Lab Director and Pathologist, U.S. Midwest Community Hospital

A lab director discusses several key points related to the use of digital pathology in a lab setting. The lab primarily uses digital pathology for archiving, consultation, and maintaining pathologist competency. They also mention partnerships with AI tool companies, although the integration of AI into their practice is still in the early stages. The decision to adopt digital pathology involved various stakeholders, including finance teams, lab directors, pathologists, and lab managers. The unique value derived from digital pathology includes the ability to collaborate, work remotely, and showcase work to non-pathologist colleagues. The lab's spending on digital pathology is primarily allocated to routine clinical diagnosis, with a smaller portion dedicated to translational clinical research. Oncology is the main focus, followed by NASH and other GI diseases. The stakeholder emphasizes that digital pathology is most useful in oncology, particularly for complex immunohistochemistry and FISH assays. However, they express skepticism about using digital pathology for analyzing skin cancers like melanoma. The stakeholder provides their opinion on various companies in the digital pathology market, categorizing some as key players. They mention Paige.AI and PathAI as leading companies, as well as 3DHISTECH as a top vendor. They also suggest considering Nucleai as a key player in the near future. The interviewee highlights the importance of developing algorithms for FISH and immunofluorescence scoring, as well as software that can integrate findings from multiple slides and generate comprehensive pathology reports. They mention single-cell analysis as a significant trend in the field. Overall, the interview transcript provides insights into key players, unmet needs, potential offerings, and trends in the digital pathology market.