Newsbytes

When the pilot projects in Vietnam are completed, those who oversee OPEN plan to expand it to other countries by partnering with humanitarian organizations and leveraging the global contacts of OPEN volunteers, Dr. Hassell says. “Our board is quite geographically diverse,” he notes, “and the pathology presence on social media is quite active, so we don’t think reaching pathologists in areas where there is a need will be a problem.” —Renee Caruthers

Digital pathology companies enter business ventures

Several companies have entered into digital pathology-related business agreements in recent weeks, including the following.

• The medical robotics company Clarapath has acquired the digital pathology company Crosscope. The acquisition combines Clarapath’s histology automation hardware, including its SectionStar all-in-one tissue sectioning and transfer system, with Crosscope’s workflow and computational pathology tools, including its artificial intelligence-powered telepathology platform.

• Leica Biosystems and Paige are expanding their digital pathology partnership. Under the deal, the companies will introduce a co-branded version of Paige’s platform as the core interface between pathologists and Leica Biosystems’ hardware. Users of Leica’s Aperio GT 450 scanners will have access to Paige’s full suite of digital pathology software, including its FullFocus viewer, FullFolio artificial intelligence-powered worklist, Paige Prostate Suite, Paige Breast Suite, and suite of biomarker algorithms, as well as all third-party AI software products deployed through Paige.

Leica Biosystems, 844-534-2262

• Proscia recently inked deals with Agilent Technologies, PathGroup, and Spectrum Healthcare Partners. Agilent and Proscia have entered a multi-year global distribution agreement under which they will offer Agilent’s laboratory customers a comprehensive digital diagnostic pathology system that combines Agilent’s pathology staining solutions with Proscia’s Concentriq Dx enterprise pathology platform.

In separate announcements, Proscia reported that it has contracted for its Concentriq Dx digital pathology platform with PathGroup, a provider of anatomic, clinical, digital, and molecular pathology services based in Nashville, Tenn., and Spectrum Healthcare Partners, a multispecialty physician-owned company based in South Portland, Me.

Concentriq Dx is CE-marked under the European In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation. It is available for primary diagnosis in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic under an FDA emergency use authorization.

Proscia, 215-608-5411

• Qritive and Corista have entered a partnership in which the companies have agreed to integrate Qritive’s artificial intelligence-powered modules for cancer diagnostics with Corista’s DP3 digital pathology image-management platform to prioritize and grade cancer cases and detect difficult-to-diagnose cancers. The combined solution will screen for prostate and colon cancers, quantify immunohistochemical markers, and detect lymph node metastases. It works with any whole slide image-scanning device and laboratory information system.

Corista, 978-287-6188

• Hamamatsu Photonics has entered partnerships for its NanoZoomer slide scanners with Agilent Technologies and Siemens Healthineers. Agilent is incorporating Hamamatsu’s NanoZoomer systems into its open and agnostic end-to-end digital pathology solution.

In a separate announcement, Hamamatsu reported that it has entered a multi-year distribution agreement with Siemens Healthineers in which it will provide NanoZoomer whole slide scanners to support Siemens’ expansion into the digital pathology market in the Americas and Europe.

NanoZoomer products convert glass slides into high-resolution digital data through high-speed scanning. The FDA recently granted 510(k) clearance to the NanoZoomer S360MD slide scanner system for primary diagnostic use.

Agilent Technologies, 800-227-9770
Siemens Healthineers, 800-888-7436

• PathPresenter and Pramana are collaborating to create a seamless user experience for labs adopting Pramana’s digital pathology-as-a-service solution for whole slide image generation and PathPresenter’s image-management/image-viewing platform. As part of the agreement, PathPresenter has validated DICOM whole slide images created by Pramana for import and viewing via PathPresenter’s software.

Haemonetics enhances autotransfusion system with next-generation software

Haemonetics Corp. has received FDA 510(k) clearance for Intelligent Control, the next-generation software update for its Cell Saver Elite+ autotransfusion system.

Cell Saver Elite+ allows hospitals to recover a patient’s blood in surgical procedures that have the potential for medium to high blood loss, helping to avoid unnecessary allogeneic transfusions. After recovering blood, the system washes it and delivers it to a product bag.

The Intelligent Control software upgrade provides more than 50 automation enhancements, including complete user control with a manual mode option and expanded wash volumes.

Haemonetics, 800-537-2802

Dr. Aller practices clinical informatics in Southern California. He can be reached at raller@usc.edu. Dennis Winsten is founder of Dennis Winsten & Associates, Healthcare Systems Consultants. He can be reached at dwinsten.az@gmail.com.