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The second phase of research began in 2020, when the diagnostic tool was expanded to six hospitals in Japan, with the aim of verifying the tool’s versatility and improving its accuracy, Olympus says. The goal of this program, it says, is to deliver AI pathology diagnosis software that can assist pathologists by 2023.

The AI-based pathology tool uses a convolutional neural network optimized to analyze pathology images. This technology enables the tool to identify adenocarcinoma versus nonadenocarcinoma tissue in an image. Once the AI was trained, it was tested using 1,200 pathology whole slide images from the six hospitals. The AI classified each image as adenocarcinoma or nonadenocarcinoma and achieved 100 percent sensitivity and 50 percent or higher specificity for slides from all six hospitals.

Quidel to acquire Ortho

Quidel and Ortho Clinical Diagnostics Holdings entered into a definitive agreement in which Quidel will acquire Ortho for $24.68 per share of common stock using a combination of cash and newly issued shares in the combined company. The transaction is expected to close during the first half of fiscal year 2022.

Among the benefits, the companies say, is a more diverse product pipeline and enhanced R&D capabilities. The transaction is expected to accelerate an innovative pipeline.

CMS updates payment rates for ’22

The Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act, which Congress passed Dec. 9, 2021, increased payments on the Medicare physician fee schedule in 2022 by three percent. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services followed by implementing the provisions in the law and increased the conversion factor used to calculate fee schedule rates, from $33.5983 to $34.6062. The CAP’s 2022 Medicare physician fee schedule impact table showing these changes is at https://j.mp/3Jmioht.

The CMS had published on Nov. 2 last year its final 2022 Medicare physician fee schedule, which included an overall cut of about four percent.