Digital & Computational Pathology - Consultant Pathologist, German Academic Medical Center

A consultant pathologist discusses their current use of digital pathology in their institution, a German AMC. They use scanners from ZEISS, Leica, and 3DHISTECH for research, teaching, and consultation. The stakeholder emphasizes the importance of digital pathology during the COVID pandemic for remote teaching. They also mention the use of AI tools for evaluating certain markers. However, the adoption of digital pathology for routine diagnostic purposes is still in the early stages. They do, however, expect the use of digital pathology for routine clinical diagnostics to increase in the future, particularly in oncology cases. The interviewee confirms that their institution is a reference lab and does not outsource for digital pathology evaluation. The key stakeholders driving the use of digital pathology at their institution are the pathologists themselves. The stakeholder mentions that digital pathology is more prevalent in academic centers and may be less cost-effective for smaller hospitals. They acknowledge that adopting digital pathology can be beneficial if it saves time, enables flexible working models, or facilitates collaboration with specialists in different locations. The stakeholder emphasizes the importance of H&E staining for diagnostics, with additional technologies like IHC and molecular pathology used for specific purposes. They have had positive experiences with 3DHISTECH scanners but have encountered issues with other scanners and software compatibility. Overall, the interviewee believes that digital pathology offers significant opportunities for pathologists but acknowledges ongoing evaluation is necessary to determine the best use cases.