Partnerships Developing Between IVD and IT Companies

Computers are helping doctors and laboratory technologists interpret results from complex tests that use DNA sequencing, proteomics, or mass spectroscopy. Healthcare market research publisher, Kalorama Information (New York, NY, USA) reported that there is a noticeable increase in bioinformatic products, such as algorithmic support programs and image-reading software.

The volume and complexity of test data that is being produced is progressing too quickly for practicing physicians to stay current, and is driving new partnerships between computing giants and large in vitro diagnostics (IVD) firms, according to Kalorama's new market research report.

According to Kalorama Information, computer diagnostics could offer opportunity for clinical laboratory professionals to add value to clinicians in diagnosing diseases. Information Technology (IT) companies in collaboration with test vendors are developing computer software that complements the skills of human test interpretation. One important consideration is the increased pressure to reduce medical errors, including misdiagnosis. In addition, the ability to use clinical data to develop predictive algorithms adds significant value to lab test data. Important IVD companies that are expanding their bioinformatics platforms to develop new diagnostics include Qiagen, Roche, Illumina, and Life Technologies.

“It [is] a new dimension of precision compared to traditional diagnostics,” said Shara Rosen, analyst and author of the report. “The addition of informatics provides an added layer of precision by matching test data to disease progression and therapeutic outcomes.”

Shara Rosen said that in a bioinformatics-based test, results are treated as data points that then can be combined with multipatient information stored digitally in electronic medical records and other historical databases to create information that creates evidence-based precedence for treatment options.

Software specialists such as Ingenuity Systems (Redwood City, CA, USA) have partnered with molecular technology companies to develop algorithms, while pathology test companies such as Dako and Aperio have also joined imaging software innovators such as Definiens (Munich, Germany).

Kalorama's report indicates that a famous example is the use of IBM’s Watson supercomputer for cancer diagnostics. Doctors will be able to access Watson through a tablet or computer. Watson will compare a patient's medical records to what it has learned and make several recommendations (not decisions) in decreasing order of confidence. In the cancer program, the computer will consider what treatment is most likely to succeed. The system uses Watson's computational and natural language processing abilities as well as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) clinical expertise and cancer information to create an evidence-based decision support.

The report describes many more of the partnerships and collaborations between computing giants and in vitro diagnostic experts. It profiles companies and analyzes the impact this trend will have on future markets.

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Kalorama Information