The amount of time it takes you to read this sentence, is the same amount of time it took us to create all of images below, from a single fresh tissue sample
Today's Challenges in Pathology...
Increasing demand
Increased incidence of cancer is driving up the demand for histologic analysis. In the UK for instance, the histopathology requests to laboratory are increasing by 4,5% year-over-year since 2007.
Shortage of staff
At the same time, there is a decrease in the number of pathologists, medical laboratory technologists and -technicians. The current laboratory staff vacancy rate is about 12% and rising.
Redundant waiting time
Processing time of traditional H&E staining has been reduced to a minimum, but the throughput times for results is usually days,(provided that the tissue sample turns out representative).
Reduce processing
forego preparation
Traditional microscopic H&E slides require 14 preparation steps, from freshly excised tissue to fixation and staining.
Although this standardised process has evolved to a high efficiency level, foregoing it would save valuable time and cost for the health care system as well as time to diagnosis for the patient.
We are able to provide images without the need for fixation, slicing or staining. With our technology, the tissue can be analysed as is , fresh and straight from the source.
Real Time, Real Images
Displaying cells in seconds
We scan the sample with ultrashort infra-red laser pulses, which generate up to four different signals which reflect different features in the tissue. Thus we obtain high resolution microscopy images with a wealth of information.
The images are directly 'diagnosable' by eye, even before using computational techniques for deeper analysis.
The technique optically sections the sample in thin 'slices' which can be combined to generate a 3D image of the sample.
First Time Right
Avoiding redundant lab work
Despite improved image guidance and robotic assistance, it is common that tissue biopsies do not contain the required cells to be representative and suitable for histopathological analysis.
Unrepresentative tissue samples result in incomplete or failed labwork, requiring repeat biopsy procedures and thus delayed diagnosis.
Research shows that approximately 45% of patients undergo one or more repeat biopsies, adding on average 45 days to the time-to-diagnosis and increasing healthcare cost by 40%-80% (aside from avoidable complexity cost due to upstaging of the disease during the time-to-diagnosis).
