Anatomic Pathology labs face continuing challenges with staffing shortages, pressures to integrate complex technologies such as digital pathology and AI, and the need to support increasing testing workloads.
LabWare, Inc., the global leader in Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) for more than 30 years, today announces an update to its purpose-built Anatomic Pathology solution, which provides out-of-the-box capabilities to manage anatomic pathology workflows for clinical diagnostic and research applications.
“This latest upgrade to our anatomic pathology solution introduces new capabilities that allow our customers to leverage the potential of precision medicine by providing flexibility to adopt evolving technologies and drive improved operational efficiency and automation with innovative LIMS capabilities,” said Ed Krasovec, Director of Clinical Solutions at LabWare. “Recognizing the continuing convergence of anatomic and molecular pathology, we have improved the ability to manage workflow across both disciplines for diagnostic and research purposes.”
Below are some of the key enhancements in this release.
Improved Histology Protocols
Histology protocols streamline the task of specifying the workup of microtubes (for molecular pathology and other tests performed outside the histology lab), blocks, and slides (including staining) from incoming tissue specimens. Histology protocols can be assigned manually or automatically, based on tissue type or a study protocol, if the case is part of a research study. The protocol specifies the number of blocks and the cassette color for each block, as well as the number of slides with stains, their thickness/level, and the testing specified for each slide.
Integrated Molecular Testing
Anatomic pathology and molecular pathology continue to converge, requiring greater flexibility for LIMS solutions to manage a multidisciplinary workflow that combines the visual context of traditional pathology with the high-resolution data of genomics and proteomics – all for a single case. We have streamlined this integration of disciplines by providing options for manual assignment or automated assignment of molecular tests via histology protocols or by a reflex rule.
Flexible Case Coding
As part of the final diagnosis and reporting, cases can be coded against ICD-O-3, SNOMED, ICD-10, and/or any custom case coding system for research purposes. A diagnosis category and rating can further characterize each code. Furthermore, each code can be associated with specific case samples to facilitate specimen search and requests for research and biorepository purposes.
Flexible Resulting & Reporting
Supporting the diverse needs of both diagnostic and research anatomic pathology lab operations, LabWare’s Anatomic Pathology solution provides flexibility for reporting either textual/unstructured test results or structured numeric/coded test results.
Cut Up Protocols
Cut up protocols have been introduced to streamline the task of dissecting a tissue specimen into smaller pieces. A cut up protocol defines a typical dissection identifying the sub-specimen tissue pieces to be created, as well as the handling procedure and the testing needed for each sub-specimen. During the workup of the case, options are now provided to either manually create a sub-specimen or apply a cut up protocol to automate the process.
Comprehensive Case Event Logging
The case event log is a summary report that documents all actions taken during the processing of the case from grossing through to reporting. The case event log has also been expanded to document the use of cut up protocols and histology protocols.
Improved Workload Allocation
A pie chart displays the existing case assignment allocation, and options are provided to assign one or more cases to either pathologists or technicians. Options are also available to automate case assignment based on availability and expertise.
Performance Improvements
To aid performance and visualization for cases involving large numbers of blocks and slides, users can toggle preferences that “roll up” case items to display a summary of the number of objects, thereby avoiding the need to load all the details. Alternatively, users can choose to display all the associated case objects.
Built for Modern Anatomic Pathology Labs
With its modular architecture, deep configurability, and now even greater ease of use, LabWare’s Anatomic Pathology solution continues to lead the industry as the most powerful and adaptable LIMS and Laboratory Information Systems (LIS) platform available for diagnostic and research laboratories.
Ready to see how LabWare can improve your laboratory operations? Learn more about LabWare Clinical LIMS solutions here.
