Hyderabad: Paving Way for Digital Pathology, International Information Technology Institute, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) has installed a digital scanner at the Nizam Medical Institute (NIMS) which will digitize glass slides that have network samples.
This will allow pathologists not to not only see and enlarge samples for better details on computers but will also make Indian pathology datasets to develop artificial intelligence solutions (AI) for accelerated and accurate diagnosis.
Traditionally, network samples are processed to make part of it.
These parts are then marked by pigments to the glass sliding to contrast and reveal cellular components under microscopic observations, making it process manual and boring.
“By digitizing, the entire slide is scanned and converted into a digital one that can be seen on the computer and enlarged (if needed) to see better details.
Someone does not need to physically transport slide glass to a pathologist for a diagnosis.
Sheer link with the image needed It’s enough, “said Dr.
Shantveer Uppin, Head of Department, Pathology in NIMS.
Early collaboration efforts for IIIIT-H with NIMS are focused on digitizing existing glass slides to create Indian datasets from various malignancies.
NIMS has a large number of pathological slides that have been stored for more than 15 years.
Because NIMS receives a large charge of lung cancer patients, this project will begin by digitizing and notifying the biopsy of lung cancer.
Regardless of cancer, the goal is to digitize a sample of lupus nephritis – automatic immune conditions that affect the kidneys.
“There are manually analyzed lupus classes.
We want to build AI tools where based on scanned images, it will identify these features and help us in guiding the diagnosis better,” Dr.
Uppin said.
Recognize that installing a expensive scanning machine in every hospital may not be feasible, the IHUB data team, the Technology Innovation Hub on IIIT-H, in the initial discussion to have a centralized scanning facility occupied by IIIT-H, it functions as a stop shop for collection and digitalization sample.
“Our goal is to make this repository in such a way that everyone can contribute to it but can also be accessed publicly.
This is the long term, but we are definitely passionate about it,” said Professor BAPI Raju, Lead Healthcare in the data.