PathXL Granted Patent for Automated Tumor Analysis on H&E Digital Slides

Patent granted for ground-breaking H&E tumor analysis software designed to drive improvements in standardisation and consistency for molecular cancer diagnostic

March 3rd 2016

UK Patent 2513916 was today granted to PathXL.  The patent is one of several patents filed that underpin PathXL’s ground-breaking TissueMark™technology; powerful methods for the automated annotation of tumor boundaries in digital H&E tissue samples.


PathXL is a global pioneer in the use of web-based solutions for digital pathology, and provides innovative software for use in drug discovery research, biomarker analysis and education. Their product for the automated identification and annotation of tumor tissue, TissueMark, was awarded the Frost and Sullivan 2014 European New Product Innovation Award for Automated Image Analysis for Digital Pathology. PathXL has been named in the top 50 fastest growing companies in Ireland by Deloitte for the past 4 consecutive years.

This adds to the patent landscape within the digital pathology industry and PathXL’s growing patent portfolio.  This patent describes how complex pattern recognition can be used to define tumor boundaries for macrodissection and improve pre-analytical annotation for molecular diagnostics and next generation sequencing in solid cancers.  By recognising tumor patterns in stained tissue samples, heatmaps can be used to map the tissue and determine the most important regions for tumor cell enrichment. Using the heat-map, a tumor boundary is automatically generated which can be used as the guide for macrodissection and accurate tumor cell quantitation.  This methodology is highly important to molecular pathology laboratories in driving quality and consistency in solid tumor molecular testing and precision medicine.  This is vital in improving sample quality assessment prior to genomic profiling.  Recent reports of high failure rates in the Obama precision medicine initiative (http://www.statnews.com/2016/01/22/precision-medicine-cancer-biopsies/) and other trials highlight the need to improve tumor identification, annotation and analysis.  This patent and the TissueMark platform can provide those important level of objectivity, reproducibility and consistency necessary to deliver high quality solid tumor genomics and molecular diagnostics.

PathXL are currently the leading company focussing on H&E imaging to support tissue-based research and future diagnostic support in pathology.

Dr Peter Hamilton, VP for Research & Development at PathXL said “We are delighted to be granted this patent on an important area of innovation.  This is the first of a number of patents filed in the field of digital pathology and H&E analysis where PathXL are clearly leading the way.  Integrating these new methods with PathXL’s cool workflow software enables customers to effectively utilise powerful tissue recognition algorithms across an emerging range of important applications including improving the quality of molecular diagnostics and large scale genomics trials.

Des Speed, CEO added “PathXL exists to provide cutting-edge Digital Pathology software solutions that empower pathologists in cancer research.   The granting of this patent confirms the novel nature of this element in our “Tissue Recognition Engine” platform, and further reinforces the important outcomes from our strong focus on research and development in this distinctive area.”

About PathXL

PathXL is a global pioneer in the use of web-based solutions for digital pathology, and provides innovative software for use in drug discovery research, biomarker analysis and education. Their product for the automated identification and annotation of tumor tissue, TissueMark, was awarded the Frost and Sullivan 2014 European New Product Innovation Award for Automated Image Analysis for Digital Pathology. PathXL has been named in the top 50 fastest growing companies in Ireland by Deloitte for the past 4 consecutive years.

Source - http://www.pathxl.com/news/pathxl-granted-patent-for-automated-tumor-analysis-on-he-digital-slides

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UK NEQAS for Molecular Genetics selects PathXL Software to support Molecular Pathology EQA Scheme

November 25, 2015

United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Service (UK NEQAS) for Molecular Genetics choose PathXL digital pathology software to run a national scheme to assess consistency of tumour analysis for molecular pathology testing, as part of ensuring the high quality standard of Genomics England 100,000 Genome Project.

Belfast, Northern Ireland, November 30, 2015.

PathXL are proud to have been selected by UK NEQAS for Molecular Genetics as the digital pathology provider to support their innovative quality assurance scheme aiming to examine the accuracy in tumour identification and quantification on H&E samples by Genomic Medicine Centre (GMC) laboratories taking part in the 100,000 Genome Project.

PathXL are proud to have been selected by UK NEQAS for Molecular Genetics as the digital pathology provider to support their innovative quality assurance scheme aiming to examine the accuracy in tumour identification and quantification on H&E samples by Genomic Medicine Centre (GMC) laboratories taking part in the 100,000 Genome Project.

Molecular pathology and nucleic extraction in solid tumour relies on the pathological review of H&E stained tissue sections to annotate tumour regions for enrichment by macrodissection. This enables the estimation of the proportion of tumour nuclei within macrodissected areas which is necessary to ensure sample quality, sufficiency of tumour DNA for analysis and ultimately the precision of the molecular test result. For the 100,000 Genome Project this is critical to deliver high quality whole genome sequencing and allow accurate interpretation of the variants detected. It is known that the annotation of tumour and estimation of percentage of tumour nuclei can be highly variable between pathologists and between laboratories, which may lead to inaccurate molecular profiling and false negative results. Thus, there is a need to measure the degree of variation between laboratories and standardize approaches to tumour annotation and analysis to promote high quality testing.

As well as facilitating the viewing of the slides, PathXL EQA software allows for all questions to be recorded within it, including annotations for macrodissection. Individuals from participating molecular pathology laboratories will be asked to mark the regions of tumour they deem appropriate for macrodissection, drawing the boundary using PathXL’s EQA. They will then be prompted to make an estimation of the cellularity across the slide image and the percentage of tumour area within the annotated region.

Dr Sandi Deans, Scheme Director

“The molecular pathology tissue assessment module developed in collaboration with PathXL will help drive high standards and good quality molecular pathology testing across the country. This will initially be part of the 100,000 Genomes project and will then be developed to all laboratories providing a clinical molecular pathology testing service.”

Des Speed, PathXL CEO

“PathXL exists to provide cutting edge software in Digital Pathology. We are delighted to be supporting UK NEQAS in this very important project to enhance the work of Genomics England.”

About PathXL
PathXL is a global pioneer in the use of web-based solutions for digital pathology, and provides innovative software for use in drug discovery research, biomarker analysis and education. Their product for the automated identification and annotation of tumour tissue, TissueMark, was awarded the Frost and Sullivan 2014 European New Product Innovation Award for Automated Image Analysis for Digital Pathology.

About UK NEQAS for Molecular Genetics
UK NEQAS for Molecular Genetics provides external quality assessment for a range of inherited diseases and acquired disorders currently tested in diagnostic molecular laboratories. The Scheme gives objective information and advice to clinical laboratories throughout laboratory molecular medicine on the quality of their analytical and interpretative performance, in order to help them provide accurate and reliable test results and advice to clinicians, which facilitates optimal patient care. Advances in our understanding of genetic diseases has led to a revolution in testing technologies. UK NEQAS for Molecular Genetics is committed to providing external quality assessment in this rapidly evolving field which includes bespoke assessments to ensure the quality of the samples being accepted into the 100,000 Genomes project.
www.ukneqas-molgen.org.uk

Source - http://www.pathxl.com/news/uk-neqas-for-molecular-genetics-selects-pathxl-software-to-support-molecular-pathology-eqa-scheme

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Northern Ireland leads in National Digital Pathology Research Programme

A national digital molecular pathology research programme led by the Belfast Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Center has been awarded the highly competitive CRUK Accelerator Award. Using PathXL software, this programme will link a number of major UK research centers, support multicenter collaboration in cancer research and use digital pathology to drive molecular pathology, immuno-oncology and the delivery of precision medicine.

August 19, 2015

Considered the ideal translational research environment, the CRUK Belfast center was selected to lead the programme and, over the next 5 years, through collaboration and training with consortium centers will seek to embed digital pathology within an extensive tissue and molecular oncology programme. It will also allow the consortium to drive digital pathology standards, consistency and interoperability across their centers, which include: University of Southampton, University of Manchester, University College London, Institute of Cancer Research and University of Newcastle.

PathXL Xplore™ software for digital pathology research management will be central to the delivery of this programme, providing the backbone for an integrated CRUK digital pathology network, managing multiple image formats, supporting the exchange of image and analytical data between centers, accelerating pathology workflow and establishing a UK-wide digital pathology infrastructure for standardization. PathXL TissueMark™ software will be used for automated tumor identification, molecular profiling and next generation sequencing in solid tumors, and as a means of improving sample quality and tumor sufficiency in molecular pathology.

PathXL software will also be used in conjunction with third party image analysis platforms to establish multicenter standards in digital pathology and new quantitative image analysis and computer vision technology in immuno-oncology.

Software and training will be rolled out during the first 12–18months of the programme across the five key UK university centers with significant expansion across the QUB existing central facilities.

Professor David Waugh, Director of the Centre for Cancer Centre and Cell Biology, said:

“The selection of this research programme submitted by the Belfast CRUK Centre is further proof that Queen’s cancer researchers are at the cutting edge of the latest innovations to improve outcomes for cancer patients across the world. Through this new research programme we will develop knowledge that can inform the targeted use of immunotherapeutic agents in cancer patients.”

“We are thrilled to receive this award and I congratulate my colleagues Prof Peter Hamilton and Prof Manuel Salto-Tellez, in leading this successful bid. It is further recognition of the powerful alliance that our Centre is forging with local and international industry to deliver new advances in cancer care”.

Des Speed, CEO of PathXL said:

“We are delighted that this innovative research project is progressing to implementation, and are looking forward to working with all centers in the consortium.
It is very exciting to be at the forefront of this UK-wide strategy for digital and molecular pathology in cancer, which has the potential to drive dramatic change. This award is further recognition that Northern Ireland is leading the way in developing digital pathology, and of the strength of the PathXL software platform.”

About PathXL

PathXL is a global pioneer in the use of web-based solutions for digital pathology, and provides innovative software for use in drug discovery research, clinical sectors, biomarker analysis and education. Their product for the automated identification and annotation of tumor tissue, TissueMark, was awarded the Frost and Sullivan 2014 European New Product Innovation Award for Automated Image Analysis for Digital Pathology.

About Belfast CRUK Center

CRUK researchers in Belfast are experts at identifying faulty genes and molecules in tumors. Many clinical trials in Belfast target these genes and molecules to test potential new ways to diagnose and treat cancer, especially hard-to-treat and more advanced cancers. Bringing together the best teams from Queen’s University Belfast, the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and other local organizations to help beat cancer sooner.

Source - http://www.pathxl.com/news/northern-ireland-leads-in-national-digital-pathology-research-programme

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