Technology
HistoIndex provides an efficient stain-free alternative imaging technique to conventional histological techniques. The technology was developed in line with current histology assessment method, the biopsy sample from patient/animal is fixed and sliced, then imaged using FibroIndex™ directly without staining. Therefore, FibroIndex™ can be adopted into existing practice directly, and the end-user will not experience significant changes to standard protocols and require minimal additional training. The images obtained using FibroIndex™ are shown below. These images clearly differentiate healthy and sick cells, and evident revelation of collagen, which is an indicator of fibrosis. It demonstrated that you can see all morphological features that are required for clinical diagnosis, without the need of staining.
Images of different stages of liver fibrosis using Histo-Index™. Healthy cells = bright red, sick cells = dark red, collagen = bright green. Note this is a stain-free technology, so these colors are added artificially after images are taken.
Furthermore, HistoHepa© provides a computer-assisted diagnosis (CAD) system, which is being developed by HistoHepa© with global clinical collaborators. This CAD system also helps pathologists to speed up the diagnosis process by identifying region of interest, area where useful information can be found, and providing an initial estimate result for these regions. FibroIndex™ with an upgradeable CAD provides individual customers access to clinical results from labs around the world to help improve accuracy of fibrosis assessment.
HistoIndex is working closely together with our collaborator/potential customers (pathologists, oncologists, and researchers) to develop the CAD program and to fine tune product features. HistoIndex will first develop these databases for fibrosis in livers, and then move on to other organs such as kidney, lung, heart etc. HistoIndex is also in discussion with research groups and pharmaceutical companies developing anti-fibrotic drugs to further refine product features for specific applications.
For pathology lab in hospitals, products with basic features and limited functions will be provided, with stain-free imaging system and CAD to help reduce the time and cost for fibrosis staging. For clinical researchers, products come with enhanced features such as higher detection sensitivity and higher precision staging system, to help customers identify any small changes in fibrosis progression which is essential for evaluating newly developed treatment efficacy. For high-end customers, such as drug developers and animal studies groups, a custom-made system with comprehensive features will be offered.
