Digital Pathology Blog

APIII Meeting - Still time to register

It's not too late to register for the 14th annual APIII pathology informatics conference that will be held on September 20-23, 2009, in Pittsburgh. The conference brochure is available on-line as a PDF file. Take a look at it -- this event is one of the major highlights of the year in the field and should not be missed by anyone with even a passing interest in lab computing. You can register on-line, by fax, or my mail.

APIII website

More information over at labsoftnews.com.

Introducing the Leica SCN400

 Many thanks to a reader for sending along a link to the Leica SCN400 I understand will be shown at ECP 2009 in Florence starting later this week.  Details about the system are scant. 

Link to Leica's website about the Leica SCN400 and a video gallery

"The Leica SCN400 slide scanner makes work faster, more reliable, and flexible. Scanning and digitizing slides is accomplished in amazing speed.  The system’s patented dynamic focus tracking enables the scanner to not only be faster, but reveal more of a specimen’s details. This can reduce the number of failed scans as compared to conventional focusing."

Where's Mayo Clinic? Oh, Minnesota is in the middle

A couple of weeks ago - 6:30 AM phone call

This interaction actually happened and reminded me of this New Yorker cartoon about New York and “everything else”.

Caller: Dr. Kaplan, this is Mr. So and So from the [name of a government agency].  I am calling to inquire about your interest in reviewing grant submissions.  I hope you are not driving.

Me: No.  I was sleeping.

Caller: Good.  I hope I am not disturbing you but I need to know if you can come to [a city in the US] in January when we convene the review panel.

Me: What dates In January?

Caller: We do not know yet but I need to know right now if you can come.

Me: I suppose it depends a little bit on what I will be reviewing, if I have anything to offer and if I don't have a prior conflict.

Caller:  OK.  I will just need to collect some basic information such as your social security number, home address and place of employment. 

Me: Mayo Clinic.

Caller: Where is Mayo Clinic?

Me: Rochester, Minnesota.

Caller: Where is Minnesota?

At this point I start asking some questions about who this individual is, his civilian pay grade, where his office is located, how he knew where to contact me and check the caller ID for area code.

Me: Have you seen 'Taking Chance'?

Caller: No.

Me: 'Fargo'?

Caller: No.

Me: 'Grumpy Old Men'? 

Caller: No. What time zone are you in?

Me: Central.

Caller: Oh, Minnesota is in the middle.

Visit the CAP Foundation Case of the Month

The CAP Foundation and CAP Surgical Pathology Committee, in cooperation with Aperio, post a different digitized case each month from the CAP Performance Improvement Program in Surgical Pathology Program (PIP) archives. 

As part of the Foundation’s new technologies program, pathologists have an opportunity to navigate a digitized slide of a surgical specimen to diagnose diseases.  On the Foundation Web page, you select the appropriate diagnosis from a master list of diagnoses provided with each case. An on-line case critique of each case will be provided, including the diagnosis, comments, and references.  The cases being posted will represent a variety of neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions, including inflammatory and infectious diseases, and encompass essentially all organ sites.

Visit the Case of the Month today to explore this digital technology, assess your diagnostic skills, and compare your performance with that of your peers.

CAP Foundation Case of the Month Program

Founder of Kaplan Test Prep, 90, dies

Stanley H. Kaplan, 90, who founded the nation's first and largest test preparation company and transformed the way students prepare for higher education, died Aug. 23 of a heart ailment at his home in New York.

The Stanley H. Kaplan Co. was sold to The Washington Post Co. in 1984 for $45 million. Its 2008 revenue was $2.3 billion, and 1 million students each year enroll in its courses.

Washington Post Obit

Sunquest, Partners HealthCare System and Massachusetts General Hospital Announce Agreement to Co-Develop Next Generation Diagnostic Pathology Solutions

There is mention in the press release of Dr. John Gilbertson discussing the LIS of tomorrow at APIII which does not take place until September 20th...

Sunquest Information Systems, Inc., a market leader in laboratory and diagnostic information systems, the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), an innovator in medical care, research and teaching, and Partners HealthCare System, an integrated health care delivery system with a tradition of IT excellence, today announced a collaborative agreement to jointly develop the next generation anatomic and clinical pathology based laboratory information system.

Full press release

Melanoma diagnosis by FISH

Check out Dark Daily's story on FISH-Based Test to Diagnose Melanoma is Goal of Neogenomics.

Abbott Laboratories will supply Neogenomics with proprietary probes to develop and commercialize its own FISH-based test for melanoma.

Pathology Visions 2009, Marriott Hotel and Marina, San Diego, Sept 13-15

Don't Miss the Digital Pathology Event of the Year! 

5 Key Reasons to Attend Pathology Visions 2009:

#1  Attend Dynamic Product and Peer-to-Peer Workshops
#2  Interact with Peers at Networking Events
#3  Obtain First-hand Knowledge of Industry Advances 
#4  View and Discuss Digital Pathology Posters With Authors
#5  See the Latest Product Solutions from Leading Digital Pathology Providers

REGISTER NOW!

For a comprehensive listing of sessions, visit the Pathology Visions website.

KEYNOTE SESSION Technology in the Modern Surgical Pathology Laboratory: Digital Pathology and Beyond

Victor E. Reuter, M.D. Vice Chairman, Department of Pathology Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Dr. Reuter is board certified in anatomic and clinical pathology and has practiced surgical pathology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for the past 25 years. Dr. Reuter is a recognized expert in the field of Genitourinary Pathology, having served as author of hundreds of peer-reviewed journal publications, multiple book chapters, and invited lecturer at national and international conferences.

White House Announces Conference Call with Physicians at 8:30 PM Eastern

Date: Tuesday August 25th

Time: 8:30 PM Eastern

Participant Call-In Number: 800-230-1096

Hosts: Tina Tchen, Director of the Office of Public Engagement

Kavita Patel, Policy Director for the Office of Public Engagement

David Simas, White House Communications Office

There is no password for the call and it is open to all physicians. Because the White House anticipates a large audience, this will be a listen-only call.  Any participants who wish to email questions inadvance, however, should send their inquiries to public@who.eop.gov and type "Physician Health Insurance Reform Call" in the subject line.

Aperio Receives Second FDA Clearance for HER2 Image Analysis Application for Breast Cancer

Tunable Algorithm Improves Results Accuracy

VISTA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aperio Technologies, Inc., (Aperio), a global leader in digital pathology for the healthcare and life sciences industry, has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the IHC HER2 Breast Tissue Image Analysis application, available through its patented digital pathology platform.

Immunohistochemistry is increasingly being used for the evaluation of therapeutic biomarkers. The IHC HER2 Breast Tissue Tunable Image Analysis application is intended for use as an aid to the pathologist and accessory to the Dako HerceptTest™ to aid in the detection and semi-quantitative measurement of HER2/new (c-erbB-2) in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded normal and neoplastic tissue. It is indicated for use as an aid in the assessment of breast cancer patients for whom HERCEPTIN® (Trastuzumab) treatment is being considered. The application can be independently tuned to accommodate a laboratory’s unique staining process, providing better performance than out-of-the-box applications that use the same fixed settings across all laboratories.

“FDA clearance of Aperio’s tunable image analysis algorithm is an important milestone in breast cancer pathology because it allows labs to adjust the algorithm to adapt their own staining process to yield better results,” said Dirk G. Soenksen, CEO of Aperio. “With this clearance, Aperio continues its quest to improve the standardization of IHC and help advance personalized medicine. The next big step in IHC standardization will be to adjust the algorithm to variations in the staining process that occur from batch to batch.”

The IHC HER2 algorithm is Aperio’s first FDA-cleared tunable image analysis algorithm. Aperio’s digital IHC system comes with a suite of additional image analysis algorithms for research use only that can be tuned for different tissue types (e.g. colon, prostate), stains (e.g. ER, PR, Ki-67, P53, EGFR), and reagents (e.g. Dako, Ventana).Aperio’s FDA clearance encompasses the company’s complete digital pathology system, including ScanScope^® scanners for creating digital slide images from microscope slides, the Spectrum^TM digital pathology information management system for managing, viewing, and analyzing digital slides, and the specific image analysis application that performs the automated scoring of IHC HER2 breast cancer digital slides.