A new study published in the Official Journal of The Transplant Society and International Liver Transplantation Society titled “How Whole Slide Imaging and AI Can Improve Organ Transplants” was authored by the Department of Surgery at the University of Utah and Techcyte. As the clinical pathology AI platform, Techcyte actively participates in research and explores new markets where artificial intelligence (AI) can have a meaningful impact. Techcyte is pleased to have worked with the dedicated organ transplantation team members at the University of Utah on this publication.
Today, many viable organs, particularly kidneys and livers, from deceased donors are more likely to be discarded because transplant biopsy reports are inconsistent, and manual reads of frozen section biopsy slides are labor-intensive. Together, the University of Utah and Techcyte explored whether implementing whole slide imaging and artificial intelligence could address this problem.
“The goal is to give surgeons quick and easy access to images and clinical pathology reports so they can be better-positioned to make time-sensitive decisions on whether or not to accept an organ to be transplanted,” said Kim Olechovski, Techcyte Product Manager.
The study concludes, “Whole slide imaging and AI can fill the gaps that negatively impact surgical decision-making and long-term patient outcomes. [AI] technology can improve the quality and accuracy of pre-transplantation biopsy reports, significantly reduce the duration of getting organs to patients, and avoid the transplantation of unviable organs.”
Techcyte is delighted with the results of this study. “This is what we’re all about,” said Ben Cahoon, Techcyte CEO. “Our mission at Techcyte is to improve people’s lives with the digitization and automation of diagnostics through AI. This study is evidence that our mission is becoming a reality.”
Read the study here.