Computational Pathology and AI Enabled Diagnostics: Where are we today and future directions

Digital pathology is now recognized as an essential technology, providing additional tools for a faster, higher-quality and more accurate diagnosis for patients and physicians. The Digital Pathology Association’s focus is on expanding applications, education, and best practices, collaborating with the FDA on equipment approvals, and addressing technology regulations. The practice of diagnostic pathology has gone through a disruptive transformation in which multiple tools such as digital imaging, advanced artificial intelligence algorithms, and computer-aided diagnostic techniques are resulting in the availability of  these new tools to assist, augment and empower the diagnostic pathology.

Automated whole slide imaging (WSI) scanners are now rendering diagnostic quality, high-resolution images of entire glass slides and combining these images with innovative digital pathology tools that are making it possible to integrate imaging into all aspects of pathology reporting including anatomical, clinical, and molecular pathology. The recent approvals of WSI scanner for primary diagnosis by FDA as well as the approval of prostate AI algorithm has paved the way for starting to incorporate this exciting technology for use in primary diagnosis Once the slides are digitized, artificial intelligence tools are providing a unique platform for innovations and advances in anatomical and clinical pathology workflows. This talk will provide an overview of the technology and its current state and applications in diagnostic pathology. We will also discuss some of the barriers that we face today and what the future directions are for AI-enabled pathology workflows.