x
Digital
Will we ever be able to cure cancer in the future? When can we effectively combat diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's? The experts' answers to such questions sound more hopeful today than they did just a few years ago. Because medicine is changing at a rapid pace: Digital technology enables new insights into the human body, artificial intelligence (AI) helps physicians with diagnosis and therapy, pharmaceutical companies are developing new and more precise medicines, doctors and pharmacologists collect data that is bundled and transmitted via the Internet made available to the international research community.Take cancer as an example: Molecular genetic analyzes of tumor tissue have significantly improved the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Certain cancers can now be effectively combated with therapies tailored to the individual patient. For example, as part of the so-called CAR-T cell therapy, cells of the immune system are taken from a patient's blood and genetically modified so that they activate the immune system against the focus of the disease after returning to the body. After the treatment, the cells of the immune system, which were previously "blind" to the cancer cells, are able to recognize tumor cells and fight them effectively.
However, attributing such successes solely to cancer research falls short of the mark. A medical specialty that many people equate with crime entertainment plays a decisive role in the development of new therapies: pathology. The corpse-dissecting pathologist, who gleans the vital information needed to convict the perpetrator by meticulously examining the victim, has become an entertainment industry stereotype. But pathology is much more than the dissection of the dead. Pathology is also and above all about making diagnoses, making therapy recommendations and saving lives.
To do this, the pathologist analyzes tissue samples from patients and looks for pathological changes. His results lay the foundation on which the treatment of cancer patients, for example, is built. Today, just as in other fields of medicine, digital technology is helping him to get better and better insights into the subject of his investigation. Keyword artificial intelligence: "The use of algorithms can give pathologists security on the one hand and save time in diagnostics on the other," says Simon Schallenberg.
Strategic Business Development Roche Molecular Solutions
(Photo: PR)
The pathologist at the Berlin Charité belongs to the young generation of doctors for whom the use of digital technology in their field of work has become a matter of course. "I see AI as an opportunity for faster, safer and more connected work. AI has the great potential to reach a new level of quality while improving the work/life balance at the same time.” In fact, machines can help people where large amounts of data have to be evaluated. A section of tissue, for example, can contain up to 10 gigapixels of data if it is enlarged 40 times. It is difficult even for an experienced pathologist to identify all the information from this volume of data.
With its Ventana range, a complete solution for digital pathology, Roche shows how a digital system can relieve pathologists here. The samples captured by a bright field scanner can be analyzed on the screen using image management software. Special image analysis algorithms also enable automatic evaluation of tissue stains. With such offers, Roche would like to help to comprehensively digitize and automate pathology laboratories - for the benefit of the patient. "We develop solutions together with the doctors for the patient," says Alexandra Farfsing from Roche Diagnostics Germany. "Because every patient deserves to receive the best possible diagnostics, a tailor-made therapy and access to their own data.
In addition to further technical development, for Farfsing the key to the success of digital pathology lies above all in comprehensive cooperation between all those involved: “Partnerships that
make you fit for the future. That is the key to the joint success of all pioneers in the healthcare system.” The Co-Creation Initiative launched by Roche supports this idea of cooperation.
Director of Pathology at the University Hospital in Lübeck
(Photo: PR)
For Sven Perner, Director of Pathology at the University Hospital in Lübeck, this is a promising approach: "In my opinion, Roche has taken exactly the right path by involving future customers in the development process at an early stage. Co-creation gives us pathologists the opportunity to contribute ideas and then implement them in collaboration. And the contacts that are made are also very valuable.”
In view of the wide range of praise, however, it is important not to lose sight of the challenges of progressive digitization in pathology. The cost of equipment and proper IT infrastructure may be a deterrent to some medical professionals. In addition, legal questions in connection with the use of algorithms must be clarified. And last but not least, pathologists in an advanced career stage could develop reservations about technical innovations. For Alexandra Farfsing, however, such considerations are not an obstacle to the further development of digital pathology. On the contrary: "There has never been a better time to bring AI solutions for pathology to market."
