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In this episode Dr. Aleks Zuraw sits down with Mariano De Socarraz, President of CorePlus and member of the board of directors at the Digital Pathology Association. 

CorePlus is an anatomic and clinical pathology lab in Puerto Rico that has fully embraced digital pathology and AI.

Key Takeaways

• CorePlus converted to 100% whole slide imaging for primary diagnosis in January 2020, before the pandemic
• They are pioneering the use of AI algorithms from companies like IBEX, AlpenGlow, Artera and TechCyte for cancer detection and precision pathology
• Digital pathology increases efficiency by ~30% and enables benefits like remote reading, better ergonomics, and seamless sharing of cases
• AI helps detect missed lesions, reduce interoperator variability, and eliminate false negatives in prostate biopsies
• The future of pathology will involve predictive and prognostic information generated right from digital slides (histomics)

Making the Digital Transition

Mariano shares how CorePlus, as a technology-forward company, decided in 2018 to fully convert to digital pathology. They took 2019 to prepare, validate their processes following CAP guidelines, and get full buy-in from stakeholders. On January 1st, 2020 they were fully digital.

While acknowledging that glass slides have advantages in simplicity, Mariano believes the benefits of digital pathology for patients and pathologists are too great to ignore. His advice for other practices considering the digital transition:

• Focus on re-engineering your workflows first before choosing scanners
• Plan for IT redundancy to avoid any disruption
• Get full buy-in from your team
• Start focused and build successes in stages

Unlocking the Power of AI

After seeing a press release about UPMC and IBEX using AI to diagnose prostate cancer, CorePlus reached out to partner with them. They became the first site outside the UK to validate and implement IBEX's algorithm, running it on over 9500 cases as a QC tool.

The algorithm was able to alert pathologists to missed lesions in 73 patients that would have otherwise been false negatives. CorePlus has now moved the algorithm to the front-end to pre-screen and triage all prostate cases.

They are also partnering with other AI companies like AlpenGlow, Artera and TechCyte to bring these benefits to breast, GI, cytology and other subspecialties. Mariano sees AI generating predictive and prognostic insights right from slides.

The Future is Digital

Mariano believes medical education must quickly incorporate digital pathology and AI training to prepare the next generation of pathologists. The Digital Pathology Association is key in fostering collaboration to expand access, especially in underserved communities.

While going digital requires some reinvention, Mariano is excited to pioneer this space. He and CorePlus aim to be "missionaries" doing what's best for patients and the field of pathology.

THIS EPISODE'S RESOURCES:

•  Digital Pathology Association 
•  IBEX website
• Alpenglow Biosciences website
• Epredia website
•  CorePlus website

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