New Groundbreaking Study by Dr. Liron Pantanowitz Compares ARM to Traditional Measuring Tools and Whole Slide Imaging for the Measurement of Breast Tumors
Dr. Liron Pantanowitz (Director of Anatomic Pathology at the University of Michigan) and Dr. Moustafa Yousif submitted an abstract to the past ECDP comparing the use of Augmentiq’s Augmented Reality Microscopy (ARM) to Whole Slide Imaging and manual measurements of breast tumor size.
The incredible results showed 100% concordance between ARM & WSI. And while measurements ≤ 0.5 mm were most challenging with the manual method at 20x magnification, WSI measurements were most challenging with the low magnifications. Yet ARM was singled out for its speed, ease of use and accuracy.
(In a previous study at UPMC, ARM was also estimated at costing just 1/20 the amount of other digital pathology technologies.)
Introduction: Pathology reports about breast carcinoma require pathologists to accurately measure tumor size, distance to surgical margins, and the size of lymph node metastases. This study aimed to assess whether novel Augmented Reality Microscopy (ARM) was easier to use and more accurate to obtain these measurements compared to using a ruler with a Manual Optical Microscope (MOM) and annotation with Whole Slide Imaging (WSI).
Materials and Methods: Thirty archival cases of breast cancer were reviewed including 10 invasive ductal carcinomas (IDC), 10 with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and 10 with lymph node metastases. All measurements were compared in the same manner using MOM (Olympus BX43 light microscope), ARM (Augmentiqs) and WSI (ImageScope viewer, Leica). Concordance was defined as ≤ 0.2 mm difference.
Results: All (100%) cases showed concordance between ARM and WSI measurements, and 80% showed concordance between MOM and WSI. Measurements ≤ 0.5 mm were most challenging with the MOM method, especially at 20x magnification. At low magnification (2x and 4x) WSI measurements were most challenging. MOM measurements were most time-consuming, while ARM was the fastest method followed by WSI.
Conclusion: ARM required no prior digitization of slides, was easy to use and quicker than MOM, and was as accurate as WSI when measuring breast tumor size, distance to margins, and size of lymph node metastases.
The full study is currently under review for publication.
