The partnership combines ARUP’s extensive medical expertise and access to samples with Techcyte’s technical ability and digital evaluation platform
Image: ARUP partners with Techcyte to develop ova and parasite detection tool. Photo: Courtesy of luvqs from Pixabay.
ARUP Laboratories, a US-based national reference laboratory, in partnership with Techcyte, an AI-based image analysis solutions provider, has developed the first AI-augmented ova and parasite detection tool.
ARUP said that digitally enabling the workflow would reduce the physical demands for laboratorians looking through a microscope for extended periods of time, including eye fatigue and neuromuscular tension.
In addition, the technology is capable of screening out negative results quickly and provides laboratorians with more time to spend on analysing positive slides.
ARUP research and development director Adam Barker said: “The collaboration with Techcyte has produced an AI-augmented detection tool that significantly advances our diagnostic capabilities in our parasitology lab. This will allow for faster turnaround times, decreased costs, employee satisfaction and improved patient care.”
ARUP parasitology labs medical director Marc Couturier said: “Microscopy-based diagnostic parasitology has remained woefully static for decades. We have successfully developed a pioneering breakthrough with this tool, the likes of which had previously been unimaginable by classically trained microbiologists.”
The ova and parasite tool marks the first of co-developed projects by ARUP and Techcyte
The digital diagnostics platform developed by Techcyte deploys the latest convolutional neural networks to pre-classify the fecal sample images captured by a 3DHISTECH Pannoramic 250-Flash III scanner.
Pre-classifying the images using the Techcyte tool allows ARUP technologists to read the stained glass slides manually and improve the accuracy of parasite detection.
The integration of ARUP’s extensive medical expertise and access to samples with Techcyte’s technical ability and digital evaluation platform is claimed to produce high quality algorithms developed and applied to future unmet laboratory needs.
The ova and parasite tool is the first of many projects undertaken by the two companies.
Techcyte CEO Ralph Yarro said: “This revolutionary partnership will combine ARUP’s vast expertise and reputation in the market with Techcyte’s AI-based image analysis capabilities to change the way lab diagnostics are performed.”
Utah-based Techcyte was founded in 2013 as a technology transfer from the University of Utah, with a mission to lower healthcare costs through AI.
Techcyte is expected to benefit medical labs, hardware manufacturers, hospitals, and clinics through its solutions, and is planning to deliver solutions for blood analysis, cervical cytology, and bacteriology in 2019.