Health services have had to react quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic on multiple fronts, especially in providing vital care remotely. However, while many sectors have successfully adapted using telehealth technologies, microscopy – a cornerstone of diagnosis – has lagged behind.
Digital integration in the laboratory is especially critical during this difficult time and its potential is astounding. With so many areas in need of innovation, scientists and researchers have spent the past decade innovating solutions that meet the needs of big and small laboratories.
The shortage of digital innovation in microscopy is not simply an unfortunate footnote. It has far-reaching implications. Manual microscopy is unable to leverage digital tools that have become commonplace in other industries. The impact of analog microscopes can translate to diagnostic error, inefficient workflow processes, and limited opportunities for clinicians to collaborate.
Indeed, the microscopy field has become a sleeping giant of progress. The time has come for it to finally awaken.
Out With the Old…
Manual microscopes are relied upon heavily in most modern laboratories. Although there are ongoing developments in the field of digitizing microscopy data, most solutions – which usually come at a high price – do not include end-to-end workflow tools that easily integrate with existing processes. Lab managers consequently continue to rely on manual solutions, hindering advancement in the field.
The current state of microscopy faces a variety of disadvantages. While automation has catapulted the advancement of research, scientific discovery and patient care, its use in microscopy has been restricted. Tedious manual procedures, such as the expert physically counting the varying cells within a sample (using a mechanical handheld counter), manually classifying cells or scanning one microscopy slide at a time, can contribute to diagnostic lag, deplete clinical resources and hinder the overall effectiveness of the diagnostic process.
It is here that AI-powered solutions and machine learning tools have the ability to transform clinical laboratory workflows. Newly developed digital platforms can offer digitized microscopy tools, on-screen comparison of different slides, and decision support systems for cell counting and summarized reports of findings. Integrating these tools will expedite clinical diagnosis, improve patient outcomes and give clinicians more time to focus on their trade.
The Promise of Remote Care
One of the most exciting aspects of the digital revolution in the laboratory is that with the advent of digital imaging, telemedicine services become possible. While telemedicine not only enables the continued provision of vital care services during pressing times such as COVID-19, it also paves the way for overall improvement in laboratory workflows and patient outcomes by enabling collaboration at a scale that has never been possible.
Electronic health records (EHRs) have demonstrated the value of digitizing data to improve the outcome of care. Digital files allow clinicians and care teams to easily share medical histories and diagnostics results to fill information gaps, and also build big data sets to uncover insights into the patient’s wellbeing. Most microscopy data today is either stored physically (not digitally) in the laboratory or in an offsite location, making it difficult to share or integrate with existing files. This creates counterproductive information silos.
The creation of digital microscopy platforms that enable easy image capture, upload, storage and sharing, can bring the success of EHRs and telemedicine to the field, offering similar services and improving patient outcomes. Digital files enable experts to analyze high-resolution slides captured in the laboratory from remote locations and quickly collaborate with peers around the world for input. Telemedicine also presents an untapped opportunity for experts to work in their niche with the ability to accept data sets from outside of their local region.
In pressing environments an added benefit of remote consultation is allowing the same high level of analysis to be carried out from the safety of the expert’s home or other remote location. This is especially poignant in the industry’s current context. Many of the experts who have spent years honing their craft are above the age of 60, and with COVID- 19 disproportionately affecting those at advanced ages, these experts can be further protected from the virus while still having the opportunity to continue their critical work.
…In With the New
The digital revolution in microscopy has already begun as cutting-edge tools become more readily available. The Scopio X100 Full Field Peripheral Blood Smear is an all-digital morphology analysis platform that is the first digital microscope to automatically scan and analyze entire regions of interest from a slide in a uniquely high resolution. Bringing digital microscopy to fruition, Full Field PBS includes a computer-vision based decision support system to improve diagnostic accuracy and enables remote consultation. Some key features include:
- High-resolution images of large sample areas that are taken using advanced computational photography tools.
- Machine learning tools that pre-classify cells within a slide and compile a comprehensive summary of the results as a decision support system.
- Remote and instantaneous collaboration tools with easy file upload to a network of experts who can analyze the high-resolution digital files.
The slow digitization of microscopy has been a heavy albatross, limiting progress; but that is finally changing. Clinicians and researchers can accelerate scientific discovery and improve the standard of diagnosis with the right tools, while feeling empowered to delve into their expertise and share their insights with the world. Digital microscopy is the brave new answer to the tedium of manual microscopy, setting diagnostics free, saving hassle, time and lives.
COVID-19 is changing the way medicine and healthcare services are provided. As a field that has been on the verge of transformation for nearly a decade, microscopy is finally bringing its innovations to life at a time when laboratories need digital solutions more than ever.
We are now on the cusp of microscopy’s advancement with AI-powered digital innovations at our fingertips, that are scalable for both small and big laboratories. All that remains is integrating these solutions into laboratories around the world - a mission that is getting more critical as events such as COVID 19 are accelerating changes in the way we provide diagnosis and medical care.
Itai Hayut is the Co-Founder and CEO of Scopio Labs