New Digital Pathology Report from Hamamatsu Reveals that a Changing Environment is Accelerating Adoption of Digital Solutions

Findings from a survey of U.S. pathologists point to a recognized need across the field for digital whole slide scanning solutions

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Hamamatsu Corporation

Feb 17, 2021, 11:00 ET

HAMAMATSU, Japan., Feb. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., a leading international provider of photonics devices, today published a new market report on perceptions and utilization of digital pathology solutions, At the Tipping Point. With findings from a survey of pathologists, laboratory directors, and hospital leaders across the U.S., the report reveals that most see value in digital pathology. However, a significant number of pathology professionals aren't leveraging whole slide scanning, and the large majority rely on sending physical glass slides for secondary consults.

"Technology has always been a part of bleeding-edge healthcare, but pathology is an area where digital imaging innovation has been slow to catch on," said Don Ariyakumar, Hamamatsu's product manager for whole slide imaging and digital pathology. "Using glass slides is reliable, but slow and inefficient, and a lack of superior digital solutions, along with a lack of FDA-cleared systems, for years made pathologists hesitant to adopt digitization. Now, digitizing slides can be fast and produces high quality images that are relatively small in file size. It also creates an essential archive to the original glass slides that can quickly and easily be shared or retrieved for further diagnoses."

Key findings from the report include:

In-depth interviews with key opinion leaders
Key factors that influence digital pathology adoption
The value of whole slide scanning for clinical diagnosis
Impact of COVID-19 for digital pathology

"Pathologists can't sustain our profession now. It's impossible to scale up our work, do more complicated testing and meet the demand of precision medicine the way pathology is practiced today, with the number of pathologists we have, and with the microscope as the dominant tool," said Liron Pantanowitz*, MD, Director, Anatomic Pathology, Department of Pathology, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan and a paid consultant to Hamamatsu, in the report.

"The pandemic has shown how important remote pathology is and has pushed healthcare leaders and clinicians to embrace and want to invest in digital solutions," continued Don Ariyakumar. "This truly is just the tipping point—we're going to see the field of pathology advance significantly as digital solutions are more widely embraced, leading to a rise in assisted diagnosis and quality control programs using AI algorithms. I'm excited to see how this change will help push the boundaries of medicine and healthcare as we know it."

Download the full report here.

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*Title provided for identification purposes only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the individual only and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the University of Michigan. Paid consultant to the company.

About Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.
Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. is a leading manufacturer of photonics devices. We design, manufacture, and sell optical sensors, light sources, optical components, cameras, photometry systems, and measurement/analysis systems.

Information furnished by Hamamatsu is believed to be reliable. However, no responsibility is assumed for possible inaccuracies or omissions. Specifications are subject to change without notice.

SOURCE Hamamatsu Corporation