Posted: 1 August 2024
Optiscan Imaging Limited (ASX:OIL) (‘Optiscan’ or ‘The Company’) is pleased to announce the successful completion of the beta phase of its innovative cloud-connected telepathology platform, developed in partnership with Prolucid Technologies. This development represents a significant advancement in digital pathology, enabling real-time, remote collaboration on patient imaging sessions.
The platform utilises Optiscan’s unique MedTech
Leveraging Optiscan’s confocal imaging technology, which natively generates digital pathology data, the telepathology platform empowers remote pathologists and clinicians to collaborate in real-time during patient imaging sessions. This collaborative approach facilitates immediate, informed decision-making at the point of care, ultimately improving patient outcomes.
The platform streamlines the telepathology workflow with secure device-to-cloud connectivity and a dedicated web portal. At the patient’s side, Optiscan’s device captures real-time confocal images and transmits them securely to the cloud platform. Remote pathologists can seamlessly join the imaging session on a computer terminal, view and flag images, and communicate observations directly with the clinician performing the imaging – all in real-time. The platform also allows for offline review and annotation of captured images, with detailed report generation planned for a future iteration. Patient data privacy and secure user access are protected with the architecture adhering to the highest regulatory and cybersecurity standards.
The beta testing was successful on multiple fronts
Key deliverables in the beta phase included the ability to register, authenticate, and securely connect devices to the cloud platform. As a package, these achievements demonstrate that Optiscan devices can now stream images to the cloud platform as they are acquired, enabling real-time visualization by remote users. The session data can also be pushed to cloud storage for post-session review.
Proof of concept for post-session review, image annotation, and session data comparison workflows have also been successfully implemented, and development of the commercial version is currently underway. User authentication, data transmission latency, patient privacy protection, data encryption, synchronization, and management have been implemented, ensuring compliance with stringent cybersecurity requirements.
This development is a further evolution in Optiscan’s imaging technology, allowing real-time collaboration and quick decision-making between clinicians and pathologists all over the world. Historically the access patients and clinicians had to sophisticated pathology insights has relied on the expertise available within the hospitals and medical facilities in which they operate. By leveraging cloud-based technology, Optiscan aims to remove those limitations and bring sophisticated digital pathology to anyone, anywhere, anytime. This has great potential for telehealth consultations in regional, rural, and remote areas where pathology expertise is often unavailable, and can help improve patient outcomes, no matter where they live.
Optiscan CEO and Managing Director, Dr. Camile Farah, commented: “We are thrilled with the outcomes from the beta phase testing of our telepathology platform, which leverages Optiscan’s confocal imaging technology to transform digital pathology. This key stage of the platform’s development journey would not have been possible without the efforts of Prolucid Technologies, our partner in this exciting project. The beta testing demonstrated that we have met our goal of creating a cloud-connected telepathology platform that effectively bridges the gap between imaging and remote diagnostics, providing a seamless, secure, and efficient workflow.”
“This achievement makes the platform a potential game changer for telehealth consultations for patients who live outside of capital city areas. In the past, regional, rural and remote health facilities have lacked the dedicated pathology expertise limiting collaboration and immediate decision-making between clinicians and pathologists. Our platform provides a way for isolated communities to tap into pathology expertise previously not available to them due to limited medical infrastructure or difficulties in attracting health care professionals. Our telepathology-enabled imaging solutions democratize pathology services and high quality patient care.”
“With the successful beta testing phase complete, we have already ramped up efforts to create a commercial version of our telepathology platform and now look forward to its implementation in clinical settings. Our aim is to initially implement a minimal viable telepathology platform, with further enhancements and features to be developed in subsequent phases.”
