Technology is changing almost every aspect of the healthcare world faster than we can track it. Doctors perform surgery rehearsals on 3D-printed models of their patients’ actual bodies, robots assist with operations, and patients have doctor’s appointments from the comfort of their own homes.
One of the fields that’s beginning to experience the miracle of the technology revolution is organ transplant medicine.
Telepathology can make the organ procurement process safer, more accessible, and more affordable. Read on to learn more about how this approach works and the benefits it can offer to organ procurement companies and patients alike.
Demand for Organ Procurement
Before we get into how telepathology can help with organ procurement, let’s talk some about the demand for organs. There are currently more than 100,000 people on the organ transplant waiting list in the United States alone. Every nine minutes, another person gets added to that list.
In 2020, doctors performed more than 39,000 transplants, but unfortunately, that’s not enough. On average, seventeen people die every day waiting on organ transplants – an annual death toll of more than 6,000 people. Each organ donor has the potential to save as many as eight lives and could improve the lives of up to 75 more people.
How Telepathology Works for Organ Donation
Telepathology uses digital scans of organ cells to determine if an organ is viable for donation or not. Traditionally, pathologists take a physical tissue sample from the organ in question and examine it under a microscope to determine if it’s viable. But this process requires there to be a pathologist available at the same hospital or in the same region as the organ, something that is not always possible, especially in remote areas.
Instead of relying on physical samples, telepathology gets pathologists the same images they would look at under a microscope, just in a digital format. A digital scanner takes images of the tissue sample at high enough resolutions for quality analysis. Those images can then be sent to any pathologist anywhere in the world for analysis.
How Digital Scanners Work
Pathology scanners use the same techniques pathologists do in a lab to create quality images of cells. A pathologist would traditionally stain the tissue sample and create a slide they could view under a microscope. A digital scanner begins with the same process, generating the same image that a pathologist would see through their microscope.
Once the slide is created, however, these digital scanners capture high-resolution images of the slide. These images can be digitized and enhanced so even more detail is visible than might be seen with the naked eye. From there, they can be sent off to any hospital on Earth in a matter of seconds.
More Efficient Evaluations
One of the biggest benefits of telepathology for organ procurement is that it allows for more efficient evaluations. When it comes to harvesting organs, every second is precious. Not only are recipients on a clock waiting for their transplant, but every minute that goes by represents more damage to the donated organ.
Getting a pathologist’s go-ahead in minutes, rather than hours or days, could mean the difference between being able to use a viable organ and losing that opportunity. Telepathology means hospitals no longer have to rely on any local pathologists that are available to review the sample. Any pathologist who’s available anywhere in the world can check the organ, giving hospitals an answer in as little as a few minutes.
Easier Second Opinions
Of course, the reason it’s so important for a pathologist to check organs before they go into transplants is that recipients could die if the organ is infected or non-viable. With stakes that high, having a second opinion can be critical, especially depending on the case. But oftentimes, hospitals may be lucky to have one pathologist on call to review the sample, let alone two available.
Telepathology makes it simple to get a second opinion in the cases that call for it. All you need is two qualified pathologists somewhere on the planet that has the time to review the sample. Your two opinions could come from London and San Francisco, and you could still have your answer in less than an hour.
Excellent Accuracy
One of the biggest sources of hesitation about telepathology for organ procurement is the question of accuracy. When a pathologist is in the room with a slide, they can be sure what they’re looking at is accurate. They can make adjustments to clarify the image or view it in a different way that digital images may not allow for.
The good news is that multiple studies have found telepathology to be at least as accurate as traditional pathology in making the correct diagnosis. One study found that in cases where the section has been frozen before analysis, telepathology was even more accurate than glass-slide studies. The quality of the imaging digital scanners can provide ensure that pathologists get a clear view of the sample they’re evaluating.
More Chances to Use “High-Risk” Organs
The question of “high risk” organs is a major quandary for the organ procurement field. No one wants to give a recipient an organ that could harm them, and some organs may come from donors who had conditions that increase risk factors for certain complications. But at the same time, with seventeen people dying every day, no one wants to lose even one potentially viable organ.
Studies have shown that patients risk less by getting “high-risk” organs than they do by waiting for “safer” organs. Telepathology makes it easier to accurately determine if these organs are, in fact, safe or not. Easier access to more qualified or specialized pathologists, as well as to second opinions, makes it possible to make the right call about these organs in time.
More Affordable
Transplant procedures are extraordinarily expensive, in part because of the cost of rushing in a pathologist to examine the sample. Cornea transplants cost around $30,000, and kidney transplants can top $400,000. In the United States, heart transplants could cost more than $1.6 million.
Telepathology can help to reduce these costs somewhat since it spreads the workload out. Hospitals don’t have to pay pathologists extra for being on call all the time and for taking on high workloads. They can simply get a decision from whatever pathologist is available, making the procedure more affordable.
Safer for Patients
Telepathology can even make transplants somewhat safer for patients, mostly thanks to the easy access to second opinions. As the old saying goes, “Two heads are better than one,” and, although it’s rare, pathologists do make mistakes. One small detail that slipped by one pathologist could cost a patient their life.
Because it’s so easy to get second opinions with telepathology, doctors can reduce the number of mistakes that make it to the patient. A second pathologist could catch something the first didn’t or may know about a risk or problem the other wasn’t trained in. This wider network of expertise keeps patients safer after their transplant procedures.
Enables Company Expansion
Many organ procurement companies may feel limited in the areas they can work in. In general, you can only run a viable organ procurement operation in an area with ready access to pathologists who can analyze the tissue samples. That is before telepathology came on the scene.
Because doctors anywhere in the world can analyze these samples through telepathology, organ procurement operations can be located almost anywhere in the world. Of course, there still has to be access to a surgeon who can perform the harvesting procedure, but that tends to be a more widely available resource. This can enable organ procurement companies to expand to underprivileged areas, including in third-world countries.
Discover the Benefits of Telepathology
Telepathology is transforming the face of the organ transplant industry today. High-resolution digital images allow pathologists anywhere in the world to determine if an organ is viable or not. This keeps patients safer, allows for more “high-risk” organs to be used, and opens up new opportunities for organ procurement companies to expand operations.
If you’d like to discover the benefits of telepathology for yourself, check out the rest of our site at Specialist Direct. We offer real-time access to top medical specialists and best-in-class technology for telehealth solutions. Set up a free consult today and discover how we’re enabling organ procurement organizations and transplant centers to allocate organs faster.
