Summary:
ARUP Laboratories is expanding its AI-augmented screening tool for detecting gastrointestinal parasites to include wet-mount slides, making it the first laboratory to apply AI to the entire ova and parasite testing process.

Takeaways:

  1. Enhanced Detection: The AI tool significantly increases sensitivity, diagnostic yield, and reduces human error in parasite detection.
  2. Operational Efficiency: It streamlines workflow by eliminating negative specimens, reducing staff burden, and improving turnaround time.
  3. Industry Leadership: ARUP continues to innovate in parasitology testing, with full implementation of the AI tool expected in early 2025.

ARUP Laboratories has announced the expansion of its AI-augmented screening tool for the detection of human gastrointestinal parasites to include wet-mount slides. With this expansion, ARUP Laboratories says it will become the first and only laboratory to apply AI-augmented screening to the entire ova and parasite testing process.

“By utilizing an AI-augmented screening process, we have seen a significant increase in sensitivity and diagnostic yield. The screening tool minimizes human error and detects ova and parasites that may otherwise be missed, which improves clinical diagnoses and ultimately treatment for patients who are affected,” says Marc Couturier, PhD.

Couturier, who formerly served as the head of clinical operations for Clinical Microbiology and Immunology and as the medical director of Emerging Public Health Crises, Parasitology and Fecal Testing, and Infectious Disease Antigen Testing, has led the development of AI-augmented parasitology screening at ARUP. 

AI-Augmented Screening Tool Improves Over Traditional Microscopy

Gastrointestinal parasite detection by traditional microscopy presents several challenges. The process is manual and time-consuming, places significant burden and stress on laboratory staff, and requires extensive staff training and experience. The AI-augmented screening tool uses scanned images to screen and eliminate negative specimens, which allows staff to focus their time and expertise on the identification of positive specimens. The tool also reduces ergonomic stressors on laboratory staff, decreases turnaround time, increases capacity, and improves patient care.

This development is a continuation of ARUP’s leadership in the technological advancement of ova and parasite testing. In 2019, ARUP launched the world’s first AI-augmented screening tool for the detection of gastrointestinal parasites that included trichrome stains.

Since the initial launch in 2019, the AI-augmented screening tool has demonstrated a five-fold increase in the limit of detection and a positivity rate that has nearly doubled. This increased sensitivity improves positive detection of parasites to better inform clinical decisions and treatments.

Implementation Coming Soon

ARUP Laboratories developed the AI solution in partnership with Techcyte, a leading company in the development of anatomic and clinical pathology artificial intelligence solutions.

“Before our launch of an AI-augmented screening tool, technological advancements in the detection of gastrointestinal parasites have been stagnant, really, since the invention of the microscope,” says Adam Barker, PhD, ARUP chief operations officer and medical director of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Infectious Disease, Research and Development Special Operations, Reagent Laboratory, Technology Transfer, and Transportation. “Now, ARUP is setting a new standard for ova and parasite testing that will not only improve our diagnostic capabilities but also enhance patient care.”

The parasitology AI-augmented screening tool will be implemented in ARUP’s parasitology laboratory in early 2025.

Featured Image: The robotic arm removes the wet-mount specimen slide in preparation for scanning. Once scanned, the image will be screened via artificial intelligence for evidence of ova and parasites. Image: ARUP Laboratories