Tech news site Calcalist recently spoke with Scopio’s co-founder about how Scopio streamlines the hematologic diagnostic process while rendering blood lab microscopes obsolete. Here are some highlights of the convo.

Something like 70% of today’s medical decisions depends on laboratory test results, and clinical laboratories therefore play an absolutely essential role in today’s healthcare system. Yet the most common hematology lab tests like the peripheral blood smear review are still mainly conducted manually with a microscope. They require classifying and counting cells by type and hunting for abnormalities. Does it work? Sure. Is it the best we can do? Not by a long shot. This method is labor intensive, time-consuming, requires continuous staff training, and is subject to relatively large inter-observer variability

But, what if this high-resolution, large-scale cell morphology was no longer a fantasy? What if instead of being forced to sacrifice field of view or resolution, you could see the big picture and the tiniest details at the exact same time? Enter, Full-Field Cell Morphology.

While microscopes are crucial in disease diagnosis, their function is limited. These instruments have an intrinsic trade-off between the field of view and the image resolution. In a fully digital workflow solution for diagnostic laboratories, the limitations of manual microscopy are overcome. This primarily means that laboratory experts no longer need to choose between the field of view and resolution, and can see both simultaneously.

Hematology, like many fields of medicine, is moving towards a digital transformation where data is the key to diagnostic insights and building an effective plan of treatment. While this is an exciting evolution that brings with it incredible opportunities for improved clinical capabilities and ultimately, improved patient outcomes, there are challenges that need to be overcome before this transformation is complete.

Counting and classifying blood cells is one of the oldest laboratory methods available for the evaluation of a patients’ health. Revealing both quantitative and qualitative data, the complete blood count (CBC) and complete blood count with differential (CBC w/diff) tests are the most commonly performed tests in the clinical hematology laboratory to this day.