Public/private partnership: OSU Medical Center and BioImagene to combine efforts

SAN MATEO, Calif.–The Ohio State University College of Medicine and BioImagene, a bio-image analysis products company based here, have signed an agreement to engage in numerous collaborative activities, including joint research proposals at the state and national levels, joint projects with profit potential, and other mutually beneficial activities.

The Ohio State University Medical Center includes the College of Medicine, five hospitals, two free-standing research institutes and a network of more than 30 community-based primary and specialty care facilities throughout central Ohio. The Department of Pathology has already advanced virtual slide imaging technology and has created a database of virtual slide images. OSU's Department of Biomedical Informatics also uses the latest in computer-grid technology.

Sanford Barsky, M.D., professor and Senhauser Chair in the Department of Pathology, teamed with BioImagene to develop digital pathology as both a research and diagnostic tool. "This collaboration combines the pathology experience of Ohio Sate and its unique patient database with the computer software imaging expertise of BioImagene to develop and validate imaging algorithms that can be applied to various areas of anatomical pathology, including tissue microarray interpretation, immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization, and hematoxylin- and eosin-based diagnosis," Barsky says in a press release.

BioImagene provides bio-image analysis products built on iHarness, its proprietary technology platform, that allows pathologists and researchers to analyze and interpret images with speed and consistency. The data-management systems and web-based nature of the technology facilitate collaboration, improve patient care and increase the speed of drug discovery.

Gauri Naik, BioImagene's co-founder and head of marketing, said the multi-year collaborative program will benefit from the OSU Department of Pathology's huge collection of tissues and associated clinical data.

"Ohio State is also developing a huge tissue microarray center," Naik said. "Therein, BioImagene's software technologies are automating the whole process of tissue microarray analysis. Using BioImagene's iHarness technology, we have come up with a couple of specific vertical applications in the pathology area that provide image analysis and management solutions for clinical and research pathology.

"BioImagene and OSU's pathology department have already started working together. We should see some results of those collaborations in the next quarter in terms of some joint research publications as well as some validation results."

BioImagene, established two-and-a-half years ago, is focusing initially on pathology infomatics. Last November, it acquired a image-management company SciMagix Inc., which had an established image-management platform called SIMS (Scientific Image Management System).

"We believe digital pathology is the next big wave to come after digital radiology," Naik explained. "The pathology industry is still lagging behind, stuck with their old microscopes and manual analysis. But in this digital era, they will not be behind for very long. Interestingly, pathologists are at a critical juncture in terms of R&D and clinics. They are playing a crucial role in the drug industry in drug-validation studies. There is a tremendous need there to automate the high-throughput pathological process."