Techcyte, a leader in AI-assisted digital microscopy, today announced the publication of a new peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, one of the leading scientific journals on the subject, evaluating its fecal ova & parasite (O&P) detection Wet Mount Iodine solution for testing stool specimens.
The retrospective study was conducted by researchers at the International Health Unit of Microbiology department of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, and associated institutions in Barcelona, Spain. The study compared conventional microscopy with Techcyte’s AI-assisted system, accompanied by operator review.
In the study, 178 clinical stool specimens were evaluated. When combined with operator review, Techcyte’s AI-assisted system achieved 96.62% positive agreement and 93.33% negative agreement compared with conventional microscopy. AI-assisted review also surfaced additional parasite findings in 74 of 178 specimens, underscoring its potential to support more comprehensive O&P screening. That figure represents more than 40% of the specimens evaluated.
In a subspecialty where O&P testing is highly manual, attention-intensive, and dependent on technologist caseload and experience, the ability to consistently surface additional structures of interest for expert review is a meaningful contribution to laboratory workflows. The finding speaks directly to the complementary role AI can play: not as a replacement for skilled interpretation, but as a consistent, tireless first pass that helps ensure objects are not overlooked before the expert makes the final call.
“Traditional ova and parasite testing remains highly dependent on skilled microscopy, which requires time, expertise, and sustained attention,”said Carles Rubio, post-doctoral researcher of International Health Unit of Microbiolgy Department of Vall d´Hebron University Hospital. “In our lab, we found that AI-assisted microscopy can serve as a valuable screening tool, helping technologists find parasites in low-burden stool while preserving the essential role of expert review in the final interpretation”
“This study reflects the role we believe AI should play in the laboratory: supporting trained professionals, not replacing them,” said Vijetha Kumar, Product Manager, Parasitology at Techcyte. “AI-assisted microscopy can help surface potential parasites for review while keeping expert interpretation at the center of the workflow.”
The full study, “Performance of the Techcyte AI-based image analysis system for coproparasitological diagnosis in clinical stool specimens: a retrospective evaluation study,” can be read here.
Techcyte’s AI-assisted microscopy solutions are distributed in Spain by Grifols, which supported the collaboration with the International Health Unit of the Microbiology Department of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital.