Digital pathology can certainly increase the top line revenue for any pathological laboratory. That is why there is growing adoption of digital pathology if compared to conventional pathology diagnosis from the past few years. Also, there are increasing initiatives about the commercialization of cost-efficient digital pathology systems.
All about Digital pathology
Digital pathology is an image-based information setting. It is based on computer technology. Digital pathology allows better management of information that is generated through a digital slide. It would not be wrong to say the digitalization of pathology made the pathological tests to be automated. That is how disease prognosis has become easier.
Digital pathology solutions made it easier to scrutinize & analyze the captured images on a computer. This allows high-resolution sample scanning as well as digital slides can be stored online. Therefore pathologists can cross-examine slides even without physical evidence.
Different components of Digital pathology Software
Various companies have developed components that can be combined to give customized images from digital microscopy. Different software is available in the market made it easy for pathologists to choose it depending on their preferences. This software aims to offer solutions to the problems pathologists and researchers face on a daily basis. The software used in digital pathology helps in the automated analysis of samples that reduces the chances of man-made errors.
Storage System
The better the storage system in digital pathology, the better will be the performance. Next-generation technologies are helping the hardware component as well as ensure the saving of data in the cloud. Some slide imaging scanners are 2-3 GB in size. The expandable capacity is still required to sustain an ever-growing repository of image data.
Device
In digital pathology, different devices like scanners and solutions. Some cloud-enabled desktop scanning systems are also available. It provides the ultimate flexibility in archiving, storing, and managing digital images.
Why digital pathology is needed?
As the advanced imaging workloads are continuously increasing, this necessitates the adoption of digital pathology. It is playing a vital role by providing an extra layer of information supplementing the overall picture of the distinct disease state of any patient. There is an increasing demand for diagnostic information in the healthcare sector. Thus health IT departments need to provide a better infrastructure to digitize tissue sample slides.
What are the applications of Digital pathology? Drug Discovery & Development
The digital pathology allows sharing of data between the labs all across the world. This will contribute to drug discovery and growth in pharmaceutical companies. Drug discovery largely relies on tissue-based research since it enables finding new target sites of the drug. Therefore new therapeutic approaches can be designed more effectively.
Disease Diagnosis
Medical treatment relies on diagnostics. That is why digital pathology labs are playing a crucial role in disease diagnosis and treatment. Prognosis of extremely complex and variable diseases can be done by using digital pathology treatment.
Academic research
The digital pathology is very beneficial in academic research. Some vendors use digital pathology to provide whole slide imaging services especially for research, and academic purposes. Most institutes and universities are trying to obtain better digital slide imaging solutions for their students. Also use of a digital pathology system reduces the costs especially in larger institutions.
