ARUP Laboratories (Salt Lake City, UT, USA), a
national reference laboratory engaged in innovative laboratory research and
development, and Techcyte (Lindon, UT, USA), a developer of artificial
intelligence (AI) based image analysis solutions for the diagnostics industry,
have developed the world’s first AI-augmented ova and parasite detection tool.
ARUP, a national clinical and anatomic pathology reference
laboratory, is a non-profit enterprise of the University of Utah and offers an
extensive test menu of highly complex and unique medical tests. Techcyte, which
was founded as a technology transfer from the University of Utah, uses the
power of deep machine learning to perform image analysis of whole slide images.
Techcyte’s digital diagnostics platform applies the latest in convolutional
neural networks to pre-classify the fecal sample images captured by a 3DHISTECH
Pannoramic 250-Flash III scanner. Pre-classifying the images using the Techcyte
tool allows ARUP’s technologists to efficiently read stained glass slides
manually and improves the accuracy of parasite detection.
For laboratorians, digitally enabling the workflow will
decrease the physical demands of looking through a microscope for extended
periods of time, including eye fatigue and neuromuscular tension. The
technology can quickly screen out negative results, allowing laboratorians to spend
more time analyzing positive slides. The ova and parasite tool is the first
among several projects being co-developed by ARUP and Techcyte. ARUP’s medical
expertise and access to samples, combined with Techcyte’s technical ability and
digital evaluation platform, will produce high quality algorithms that can be
developed and applied to future unmet laboratory needs.
“The collaboration with Techcyte has produced an AI-augmented
detection tool that significantly advances our diagnostic capabilities in our
parasitology lab,” said Adam Barker, PhD, director of Research and Development
at ARUP. “This will allow for faster turnaround times, decreased costs,
employee satisfaction and improved patient care.”
“Microscopy-based diagnostic parasitology has remained
woefully static for decades. We have successfully developed a pioneering
breakthrough with this tool, the likes of which had previously been
unimaginable by classically trained microbiologists,” said Dr. Marc Couturier,
medical director of ARUP’s Parasitology labs.
“This revolutionary partnership will combine ARUP’s vast
expertise and reputation in the market with Techcyte’s AI-based image analysis
capabilities to change the way lab diagnostics are performed,” said Ralph
Yarro, CEO of Techcyte.
