Digital image analysis and artificial intelligence in pathology diagnostics-the Swiss view.

Journal: Pathologie (Heidelberg, Germany)
Published Date:

Abstract

Digital pathology (DP) is increasingly entering routine clinical pathology diagnostics. As digitization of the routine caseload advances, implementation of digital image analysis algorithms and artificial intelligence tools becomes not only attainable, but also desirable in daily sign out. The Swiss Digital Pathology Consortium (SDiPath) has initiated a Delphi process to generate best-practice recommendations for various phases of the process of digitization in pathology for the local Swiss environment, encompassing the following four topics: i) scanners, quality assurance, and validation of scans; ii) integration of scanners and systems into the pathology laboratory information system; iii) the digital workflow; and iv) digital image analysis (DIA)/artificial intelligence (AI). The current article focuses on the DIA-/AI-related recommendations generated and agreed upon by the working group and further verified by the Delphi process among the members of SDiPath. Importantly, they include the view and the currently perceived needs of practicing pathologists from multiple academic and cantonal hospitals as well as private practices.

Authors

  • Sabina Berezowska
    Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Institute of Pathology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • Gieri Cathomas
    Institute of Tissue Medicine and Pathology, University of Bern, Murtenstr. 31, 3008, Bern, Switzerland.
  • Rainer Grobholz
    Institute of Pathology, Cantonal Hospital Aarau, Aarau, Switzerland; Medical Faculty University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Maurice Henkel
    Research & Analytic Services, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
  • Wolfram Jochum
    Institute of Pathology, Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen, 9007, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
  • Viktor H Koelzer
    Institute of Cancer and Genomic Science, University of Birmingham, 6 Mindelsohn Way, Birmingham, B15 2SY, UK. vkoelzer@well.ox.ac.uk.
  • Mario Kreutzfeldt
    Department of Pathology and Immunology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
  • Kirsten D Mertz
    Institute of Pathology, Cantonal Hospital Baselland, Mühlemattstrasse 11, CH-4410, Liestal, Switzerland.
  • Matthias Rössle
    Pathologie, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Spitalstr., 6000, Luzern 16, Switzerland.
  • Davide Soldini
    Institute of Clinical Pathology Medica, Zürich, Switzerland.
  • Inti Zlobec
    Institute of Pathology, University of Bern, Murtenstrasse 31, 3008, Bern, Switzerland. inti.zlobec@pathology.unibe.ch.
  • Andrew Janowczyk
    Biomedical Engineering Department, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.