Medica2015_Dienstag

EH @ MEDICA No 2 2015 17NOVEMBER 2015 Latex gloves make great balloons but they make lousy probe covers. Introducing Sure, exam gloves are always close by, but using one as a probe cover is awkward, especially with a large 3D/4D probe. They also allow for wasted ultrasound gel, make an incredible mess, and if the glove is latex, it may cause an allergic reaction in patient, clinician, or both. You, your ultrasound probe, and most importantly your patient deserve better. The Eclipse® 3D, Parker’s newest probe cover, was designed solely for 3D/4D probes. Save the gloves for their intended use or for decorating the next office party. Our newest probe cover was specifically designed to accommodate larger 3D/4D ultrasound probes. And like our original Eclipse® Probe Cover, Eclipse 3D is latex-free and conveniently pre-gelled with Aquasonic® 100, the universal standard for all medical ultrasound procedures. ISO 13485:2003 © 2015 Parker Laboratories, Inc. Visit us at Hall 9 Stand D41 EclipseProbeCover_MEDICA_2015_102615.qxp_Eclipse Probe Cover - MEDICA 10/27/15 9:50 AM Page 1 Increasing requirements for spe- cialisation and diagnostic quality in pathology, on the one hand, and the importance of pathology findings for treatment planning, on the other, call for new solutions in pathomor- phological diagnostics. One impor- tant starting point is the fast-paced opportunity for digitisation along with communication systems that facilitate the storage and transfer of large data volumes. These open up new opportuni- ties in pathology summarised by the term digital pathology. ‘The term stands for procedures which facili- tate improvements in quality and improved exchange with colleagues in the same field who may have a different or special expertise in cer- tain areas. It also serves the improve- ment of communication with hospi- tals, both internally and across larger distances,’ explains Professor Hans- Peter Sinn MD, who works at the Institute of Pathology at Heidelberg University Hospital. Telemedicine in pathology used to be termed ‘telepathology’. But this only means that a diagnosis is car- ried out over a certain distance for conventional preparations. It has a historical background, as there were efforts in the 1990s to transmit diag- nostic images via bundled ISDN lines or similar, i.e. using out-dated means that have long been abandoned due to the unsatisfactory technology and limited validity. Pathology and, in particular, tumour pathology, is increasingly integrating non-morphological pro- cedures such as NGS (next generation sequencing) on which classifications are dependent. Histological prepa- rations are now primarily digitised and made available by the server via virtual microscopy. ‘The term ‘digital pathology’ not only comprises the transmission of images but also their metadata and additional informa- tion concerning the case, which the pathologist can use to gain a more complex understanding than with a microscopic image alone,’ Professor Sinn explains. Process of digitisation is unstoppable Digitisation in pathology facilitates improved standardisation, transpar- ency and digital archiving of micros- copy. However, there is also another important factor. ‘Telemedicine in pathology allows the networking of pathologists with one another in an uncomplicated way, particularly with regards to specialist areas of expertise. There are networks for haematopathology and gynaeoco- pathology where content about his- tological preparations, research con- cepts or molecular procedures can be exchanged,’ Sinn reports. Telemedicine not only concerns patients and individual cases but also includes continued education, quality circles, lecture series, tumour regis- ters and reference centres. Is everything positive, then? By no means! ‘The process of digitisation is unstoppable, but in the case of rou- tine pathology has only just begun and poses particular challenges to this field. This concerns, for instance, the lack of standardisation of plat- forms, image formats and interfaces of virtual microscopy with pathology- and hospital information systems. Currently, there is also a lack of non-proprietary solutions for the net- working of subsystems for molecular pathology as well as immuno-histo- chemistry.’ Furthermore, financial aspects also play an important role. It would be misleading to assume that digi- talisation and electronic provision of histological preparations and results definitely lowers costs per se by, for example, assuring that duplicate examinations are avoided. ‘This is not actually the case with digital pathol- ogy,’ says the expert, and substanti- ates this. ‘Digitising histological prepara- tions, or other pathological findings and making them available electroni- cally for transmission if necessary, involves higher costs. We depend on the conventional histological, immu- nohistological and molecular meth- ods and then we have to digitise them in a secondary procedure. Therefore, digitisation is a second- ary, expensive step. These days it is still easier and cheaper to put sam- ples into envelopes and send them off. The costs of digital pathology are in the high six-figure range and therefore significantly higher than exchanging preparations in the con- ventional way.’ The amounts of data that need processing are a further problem: ‘Due to the microscopic resolution needed, the image data takes up a lot more storage space than data stored in radiology, for instance. A single histological preparation, once digitised, converts into around one gigabyte of data. If we want to digit- ise our entire microscopic diagnostics we would generate several hundred terabytes of data a year and, over a period of several years for routine image documentation in microscopy for just one institute, would end up in the petabyte range. This is another reason why digitisation in pathology is still a lot less common and stand- ardised than in other areas of medi- cine,’ the expert points out. Sinn is essentially in favour of fur- ther digitisation, which, as said, he believes to be unstoppable. However, he warns against being naïve about this: ‘The introduction of telemedi- cine on a broader scale primarily improves the quality of care, and only secondarily the efficiency. ‘In the future this is going to result in the opportunity to work more objectively and in a more networked manner through the increased digiti- sation of medical results. Therefore, the patient has the potential advan- tage of improved care, but higher costs and significantly increased expenditure regarding time and resources are limiting factors, par- ticularly for pathology.’ Higher costs and increased expenditure on time and resources are limiting factors Telepathological depiction of a breast tumour in virtual microscopy Professor Hans-Peter Sinn MD, from the Division of Gynaecopathology, Heidelberg University Hospital Telemedicine in pathology S P E C I A L I S S U E : M E D I C A L , T E C H N I C A L , P H A R M A C E U T I C A L , I N D U S T R I A L N E W S DUSSELDORF • TUESDAY • 17 NOVEMBER 2015 @ MEDICA 2 WWW.HEALTHCARE-IN-EUROPE.COM EH @ MEDICA No 22015 EclipseProbeCover_MEDICA_2015_102615.qxp_Eclipse Probe Cover - MEDICA 10/27/159:50 AM Page 1

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