London, United Kingdom, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cancer informatics and digital pathology workflow solution provider Inspirata® Europe, Ltd. confirmed today its participation in Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine 2019 (FiLM) taking place in Birmingham on January 29th-30th. FiLM delegates are charged with exploring new techniques for improving patient care amid aggressive case turnaround times and a global workforce crisis. Inspirata will be delivering a presentation introducing digital pathology as a vehicle for both new diagnostic innovation and alleviating pressure on over-stretched laboratories.
Held annually since its inception in 2002 and organised by the Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ACB), FiLM will again bring together leading domestic and international figures from pathology and diagnostics to discuss how they can further contribute to the improvement of patient outcomes. Front-of-mind for many in attendance will be how they can embrace innovation and proven best practice while simultaneously navigate the perennial challenge of staff shortages. The 2018 Histopathology Workforce Studyi produced by the UK Royal College of Pathologists revealed just 3% of NHS laboratories currently possess sufficient staff to meet demand. However, the issue of recruitment and retention is not unique to the UK and constitutes a global predicament. Inspirata’s invitation to attend FiLM reflects the key role many feel digital pathology now has to play in a profession characterised by such limited human resources.
“It is an unfortunate coincidence that some of the greatest developments in diagnostic innovation should emerge at precisely the point in which clinical laboratories the world-over are wrestling with a chronic lack of personnel to take advantage,” says Inspirata Founder Dr. Mark Lloyd. “The silver-lining is that effective implementation of digital pathology, whereby emphasis is placed on an intelligent workflow, enables hospitals to reconcile staff shortages with their appetite to tap the opportunities provided by the very latest digital diagnostic tools.”Inspirata’s involvement in FiLM 2019 marks the one-year anniversary of the company’s acquisition of Dynamyx™ from GE Healthcare and the setup of European offices. The momentum towards digital pathology which has transpired since their arrival is a development not lost on the Inspirata team. “The conversation has fundamentally shifted,” explains Mark. “When we setup in the UK, the dialogue enjoyed with institutions entertaining digital was cloaked in conditional terms. ‘If’ opposed to ‘when’. Fast-forward to today and we see a complete reversal. We have seemingly reached a tipping-point in favor of digital and the sense of excitement for what it means for patients is palpable”.
Further reinforcing this perception that the tide is shifting firmly away from analogue is the announcement of several large NHS tender processes for digital pathology in 2019, a development in which Inspirata feel particularly well placed to assist. “We recognise that graduating to digital isn’t a simple purchase of technology but an exercise in business transformation. Furthermore, there are nuanced requirements for national healthcare providers here in Europe which need to be accommodated as a prerequisite,” details European General Manager Tim Wing. “Laboratories need to feel confident that they are procuring a solution purpose-built for clinical environments and that once installed, it won’t inhibit their continued use of any existing and / or planned technologies. The commercial basis of any partnership also needs to be mindful of the additional funding challenges almost all institutions are experiencing”.Having welcomed both leading UK pathology network Path Links and Kantonsspital Aarau of Switzerland as new European customers in 2018, Inspirata is acutely aware of the need to square these requirements. On acquiring Dynamyx™, Inspirata immediately set about ‘opening-up’ the solution and actively soliciting new technical partnerships based on their open API. Inspirata’s embrace of solution agnosticism is empowering customers to procure and integrate new technology such as whole-slide scanners, LIMS and image analysis tools with a confidence of compatibility, and further sweat earlier software and hardware investments on the same basis. Mindful of the issues many institutions face when it comes to financing new pathology initiatives, Inspirata has also introduced new commercial mechanisms deliberately designed to enable laboratories to take their first step on their path towards digitization, even in instances in which the funds cannot be made available straightaway.
As Inspirata look ahead to the next twelve months, there is much to be excited about. “We do not consider our customers electing to go digital with us as an end in itself,” details Mark. “In addition to acquiring Dynamyx™, 2018 also saw us welcome Toronto-based Artificial in Medicine and population health provider Caradigm into the Inspirata family. Pushing the frontiers in pathology represents just one constituent part of our overall effort to provide our customers with an informed longitudinal view of their oncology patients - from diagnosis, through treatment and therapies to outcomes” Taking their cue from the meeting’s official thematic focus for 2019 of 'getting things right first time', Inspirata’s workshop presentation at FiLM is entitled ‘Digital Pathology – Focus on the Workflow’ and will be delivered by Tim Wing in the Faraday Room, IET Austin Court at 1pm Tuesday January 29th. Event attendees will likewise be able to request personal demonstrations of Dynamyx™ throughout the two-day event at Inspirata’s stand so they can see for themselves how real-time collaboration, case-sharing and utilisation of AI-based image analysis could be put to work at their institution.
About Inspirata Europe Ltd.
Inspirata® Europe Ltd. provides oncology diagnostics workflow solutions that span digital pathology; diagnostic and predictive assays; and precision medicine. It also offers cancer informatics workflows that, in combination with its Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms structures unstructured case files and clinician notes to provide key insights for oncology-specific clinical and operational activities as well as cancer reporting. Inspirata’s flagship solution is its Cancer Information Data Trust (CIDT) that generates a longitudinal view of oncology patients—from diagnosis, through treatments and therapies, to outcomes. The CIDT has extensive applications in clinical decision support, research, education, drug discovery and clinical trials enrollment. Its use will extend to physicians, patients, researchers, pharma and others. For more information, please visit www.inspirata.com or contact info@inspirata.com.
i Royal College of Pathologists: Histopathology Workforce Study 2018
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