The Future of Pathology: How Labs Will Benefit from Adopting a Digital and AI Strategy

Introduction

Integrating digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the field of pathology. Recent strategic moves, such as Quest Diagnostics' collaboration with PathAI, highlight the accelerating shift towards AI and digital pathology.

This blog post explores the benefits labs can expect from adopting a comprehensive digital and AI strategy, underscoring the importance of these advancements in improving diagnostic accuracy, efficiency, and patient outcomes.

Enhancing Diagnostic Accuracy and Consistency

Digital and AI pathology have the promise to improve diagnostic accuracy and consistency. Traditional pathology relies on the manual examination of glass slides, which can be subjective and prone to variability. Digital pathology converts glass slides into high-resolution digital images for easier analysis. AI algorithms further enhance this process by identifying patterns and anomalies the human eye might miss.

• Quantitative Analysis: AI provides quantitative assessments of complex biomarkers, reducing subjectivity in interpretation and ensuring more consistent results across different cases and laboratories.
• Advanced Pattern Recognition: AI can detect subtle features and patterns in tissue samples that are challenging for pathologists to identify manually, potentially leading to more accurate diagnoses.

Streamlining Workflow and Increasing Efficiency

Adopting a digital and AI strategy streamlines laboratory workflows, making processes more efficient and reducing turnaround times for diagnostic results.

• Automated Pre- Review: AI can pre-process digital pathology slides, sorting and prioritizing cases based on urgency. For example, it can highlight slides with too much artifact for review or cases with likely cancerous areas for prioritization. AI can also prioritize cases likely to require reflex testing to support clinical interpretation, which may improve case turnaround times.
• Enhanced Case Management and Distribution: Digital pathology image management systems integrate with laboratory information systems (LIS), facilitating seamless case management, data retrieval, and reporting. AI-enabled advances will allow for dynamic and rules-based case distribution across pathology staff based on factors such as schedule availability, subspecialty, licensure and credentialing, and case complexity.
• Remote Consultations: Digital slides can be easily shared with specialists worldwide, enabling remote consultations and second opinions without the logistical challenges of transporting physical slides, which can be done in identifiable, de-identified, and anonymized forms to ensure data privacy regulations remain adhered to.

Supporting Precision Medicine

AI and digital pathology play a crucial role in the advancement of precision medicine, providing deeper insights into disease mechanisms and which biomarkers best optimize patient response to treatment.

• Novel Biomarker Development: AI pathology algorithms can help identify novel histology-based biomarkers - including complex spatial markers unable to be assessed using traditional manual methods - that might better predict responses.
• Companion Diagnostics: AI-enabled companion diagnostics can be developed to determine which patients respond to a specific therapy. The explosion of antibody-drug conjugate, immuno-oncology, and bi-specific antibody development is driving an increased need for quantitative CDx strategies.

Fostering Innovation and Research

Integrating AI and digital pathology fosters innovation and accelerates research in pathology and related fields.

• Collaborative Research: Partnerships between AI companies, academia, diagnostics companies, and biopharma companies facilitate the development of new AI algorithms with potential clinical applications, driving forward AI's capabilities in pathology.
• Data-Driven Insights: Digital pathology enables the aggregation and analysis of vast amounts of data, providing a rich resource for research and development. This data-driven approach can lead to the discovery of new biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Supporting Better Patient Outcomes

Adopting digital and AI strategies in pathology has the promise to improve patient outcomes. Faster, more accurate diagnoses enable timely and appropriate treatment interventions, which are crucial for patient prognosis, especially in diseases like cancer.

• Reduced Diagnostic Errors: Enhanced accuracy and consistency in pathology diagnoses lessen the likelihood of diagnostic errors, leading to better treatment decisions.
• Faster Turnaround Times: Streamlined workflows and efficient case management can reduce the time from sample collection to diagnosis, allowing quicker treatment initiation.

Conclusion

The benefits of adopting a digital and AI strategy in pathology are clear. From enhancing diagnostic accuracy and efficiency to supporting precision medicine and fostering innovation, these technologies are set to revolutionize the field. The recent collaboration between Quest Diagnostics and PathAI exemplifies the transformative potential of digital and AI pathology. Embracing these advancements can potentially improve their operations and, most importantly, patient outcomes.

As the field continues to evolve, it is beneficial for pathology labs to stay ahead of technological trends and ensure they are well-equipped to leverage the full potential of digital and AI tools. The future of pathology is digital, and the time to adopt these strategies is now.